The Side Stories no one likes to share
by Aquila Aqua
Summary: Here are the side stories of Arata and his group which they do not like to share! Mostly one shots of side stories of Different Than You and majority of the chapters will have a song and may be based on another anime, tv show or movie.
1. Begging on your knees

**I don't own anything from Danball Senki WARs**

**So...I did say that I was going to publish this and update my profile this weekend...**

**Sorry for being so late. Got a bit distracted that time so here it is and I have really updated my profile this time.**

* * *

"What are we going to do for our final grade performance?" Mia asked her friend as they walked back to the dorms.

Reika shrugged. "I don't know. Sing, dance, the usual."

* * *

_ "__Ok, class." Their music teacher clapped her hands and addressed the class which consisted of students from various classes. Unlike any other classes, music class is optional and a joint one with other classes. "For your homework assignment, all of you have to perform a song for Jam Night either as a solo singer or pair up with another singer from this class and sing a duet. This will be counted as your final grade for the whole of the semester."_

_A lot of students groaned at that but Mia and Reika shared a grin as their minds came up with various ideas for a song._

_ "__But, just __solos__ and __duets__!" Sawa reminded them._

_ "__What about us~" The four boys from Arabista's 17__th__ platoon sang. So far, no one had ever heard them talk properly in class or sing separately, which was amusing most of the time. They even earned the nickname Quartet Quadruplets by everyone. _

_ "__No!" Sawa told them firmly. "No quartets."_

_ "__Aw~" They sang/groaned. The bell rang and they left the class dejectedly._

* * *

"But," Mia pulled out her song book. "We have to decide on a song first."

"Let me see that." Reika took the book and flipped through the pages. "No…too sassy…the music is too bland…preformed it already…"She gave up and snapped the book shut. "I think we need to write a new song."

"My thoughts exactly." Mia nodded in agreement.

"Hey, Reika!"

The both of them turned around and saw Daniel Mars from Rossius and their music class running towards them.

"Yes?" Reika asked, placing a hand on her hip. "Daniel? Right?"

He nodded. "Listen, I was wondering if…"

Reika held up her hand to stop him. "Sorry, I'm doing a duet with Mia." She hooked her hand into Mia's to prove her point. Mia smiled innocently at him, but she felt that there was something off with Daniel.

"No!" Daniel shook his head. "I wasn't going to ask you that."

Reika frowned in confusion. "Is not?"

"I was going to see if you wanted to…you know…" He took a deep breath. "Go out…err….I should probably just…" He did not complete his sentence and turned to leave but Reika unhooked her hand from Mia's and grabbed his arm.

"NO! Wait!" She grinned widely at him. "I'll love to go out sometime!"

Mia stared at her friend in shock. Did she just say what she thought she said!?

"…And, wow, your arm is hard!"

Mia's mouth dropped open. Just what in the world was Reika thinking!?

Daniel did not seem to mind though. "Thanks. So, we'll grab a parfait or something…at the Swallow Café sometime?"

"Yes!" Reika exclaimed excitedly, but she quickly regained her composure. "I mean, yes." She said more calmly this time. "I want to do that."

* * *

"I sure hope that you know what you are getting into." Mia hissed as Daniel walk off. "I don't trust him."

"Oh, come on Mia, it'll be fine." Reika assured her friend. "I mean, what could happen by having a small outing with a hot guy like Daniel." She said dreamily.

Mia was taken aback. "You mean to say that you had a crush on him the whole time?!"

"Maybe a little." Reika admitted with a blush.

Mia shook her head. "I heard that he dates lots of girls."

"Where did you hear that from?" Reika asked disbelievingly.

"Muraku." Mia shrugged. "When I transferred here, he gave me a list of boys to avoid. Daniel Mars is on the top of the list."

"Wow." Reika rolled her eyes. "Who knew that he can be overprotective?" She said sarcastically.

"Oh, I heard that he did the same for Vanessa." Mia said nonchalantly.

"Anyways~" Reika twirled around. "Daniel Mars asked me out~"

"Were you not listening when I said that he is a boy to avoid!?" Mia asked exasperatedly.

"Who cares about what some list that your brother made." Reika tossed her hair. "I know that he's different."

Mia gave up. "Whatever."

* * *

The next day, as Reika walked into the building, Arata grabbed her hand and dragged her to a quiet place.

"What is this that I heard about you going out with Daniel Mars?!" He hissed.

Reika blinked. "Where did you hear that from?"

"Mia told me." Arata answered shortly. "She's worried that you are being led up the garden path, so she told me."

"Oh please." Reika held up her hands. "I can take care of myself and besides, it's just a small outing."

Arata narrowed his eyes. "I heard a lot of things about Daniel and I don't like them. That's why I just want to advise you to stay away from him."

"Arata, I'm fourteen and I know how to take care of myself." Reika assured him. "I'll see you later."

As she walked off to her class, Sawa-sensei stormed passed her with the same boys who always sang in quartets trailing her. Many students who were watching were watching with peaked interest and amusement.

"Fine!" She yelled. "The four of you can sing as a quartet!"

The boys exchanged happy glances. "Thank you Sawa-sensei~"

"Now leave me alone." She demanded exasperatedly and stormed off.

The quartets turned and spotted Reika and sang. "Hey~ Hey~ Sena Reika, would you like to be our very special…"

"No!" Reika cut in before they could finish their sentence. Their faces became downcast before lighting up when they spotted Mia.

"Hey~ Hey~ Houjou Mia…"

"No!" Mia quickly turned them down before running over to Reika. "I've been thinking about a new song…"

"Not now, Mia." Reika ran past her friend to greet Daniel who had waved her over. Mia stared at her for a moment and shook her head.

"What is going on with that girl?" She muttered.

* * *

"...so, I told her that we were not able to be together because we are, you know, not meant for each other." Daniel was said. He and Reika were in the Swallow Café where he had asked her to meet him after school.

"Well, thanks for clearing that for me." Reika told him. "Mia and my brother, Arata did not like you at all because of the rumors about you."

Daniel smiled. "You're special, you know. And not to mention prettier than any other girl I had dated."

Reika blushed and pushed some of her hair from her face.

"Have you and Mia figured out what to sing on Jam Night?"

Reika frowned. "Actually, we haven't figured out that yet. But Mia did say that's she would think of something."

"Wow, it's great that you have a partner like her." Daniel said impressed. "I don't even know what song I'm going to do yet."

"You don't?" Reika asked incredulously.

"No." He shook his head. "I just…I get so scared to sing alone."

"Well, maybe we could do a song together!" Reika suddenly suggested.

Daniel's eyes shot up. "Really?"

Reika nodded eagerly. "Yeah."

"But what about Mia?"

Reika bit her lip. "I'm sure that she won't mind….I think."

"I tell you what, you can ask Mia if you can do a song with me." Daniel told her. "If she says yes, then we'll do it. But if she doesn't, then, I don't mind either. You were going to do a song with her anyway."

"Thanks."

* * *

"Ok, what is the supper important thing that you wanted to tell me that you had to drag me out here just to talk?" Mia demanded as she folded her arms.

Reika rubbed her hands together nervously. "Um, here's the thing, do you actually mind doing a solo for Jam Night?"

Mia's jaws went slack. "What!?"

"I sort off asked Daniel if he wants to do a duet with me…and he said that he would want to if you don't mind." Reika said, not looking at her.

"Are you sure about this?"

Reika nodded. "Yup."

Mia looked like she wanted to say more but decided against it. "Fine, I think I can manage a solo. But on the condition that you don't sing any of the songs that I wrote. You can use your songs or anyone else's but not mine."

Reika blinked. "But, why can't I use your songs?"

"I don't trust him with them." Mia answered shortly before going back into the dorms. She made a mental note to hide all of her music books so that Reika cannot find them and use any of the songs in them.

* * *

Arata looked up from the book he was reading and noted Mia's downcast face. "Mia, what's wrong?"

"Nothing." Mia sighed and took out her music book to continue writing her song for Jam Night.

"Don't 'nothing' me." Arata chided her. "It's about Reika and Daniel Mars, right?"

"She decided to do a duet with him." She mumbled, catching Yuno's attention.

"But I thought she was going to do a duet with you."

Mia shrugged. "It seems that she prefers a boy over her best friend. Daniel Mars is the only thing in her mind these days."

"I don't trust that guy." Catherin spoke up. "He's gone out with tons of girls and is close to achieving the title of playboy."

"Shouldn't we warn Reika then?" Yuno wondered.

Arata frowned. "Leave her be. Mia and I already tried to warn her but she wouldn't listen. She's just going to have to learn you can't judge a book by its cover the hard and painful way."

* * *

"Mia, can I have a word with you?" Muraku asked his twin the next day.

Mia nodded. "Sure. Let's go to the rooftop."

Once they were at the roof, Mia cocked her head at her brother. "What do you want to talk to me about?"

"I heard that Sena Reika is going out with Daniel Mars, right?"

Mia slowly nodded. "Yeah, they are even doing a duet for Jam Night."

Muraku frowned. "What do you know about him?"

"He's a heartbreaker, playboy, and I don't trust him at all."Mia summoned up.

"Do you know why he dates girls?"

This question caught her off guard. "No." She shook her head.

"He only dates girls to get a good grade in any subject the girl he is dating with is good at and dumps them afterwards." Muraku explained.

Mia's jaws went slack for the second time. "What?!"

Muraku rummaged around his pocket and gave her a piece of paper. "Here is the list of girls he had dated. Hopefully it would be of some use to you."

Mia stared at it and smiled. "Thanks. I owe you one."

"I'm looking forward to your performance at Jam Night." Muraku smiled back.

* * *

"…so, Mia told us about it and we asked around with the girls that he dated with." Arata told his sister as they gathered at the sports centre.

"And it's true." Yuno continued.

Reika frowned. "So he's using me to get a good grade?"

"Sorry Reika." Arata apologized. "But I'm afraid it is."

Reika threw up her hands and groaned. "So what am I going to do?"

"You're not going to do that duet with that jerk anymore, aren't you?" Catherin asked.

"No!" Reika said frustrated.

"Good, then he'll fail." Yuno pointed out.

"But I don't want to fail too."

"Then what are you going to sing?" Arata asked her.

Reika thought for a moment before her face lightened up. "A song! A really cool song that just came into my mind!" She ran off to find Yuko. "Yuko-nee, I need to borrow your laptop for a song!"

* * *

_On Jam Night, Kuriko's Sports Centre_

Time passed quickly and Mia performance went by without a hitch, much to her relief.

"I thought I was going to faint." She told Atsuya as he checked the lighting before the Quartet Quadruplets' turn.

"But you did great." He assured her.

Mia grinned and pecked his cheek. "Thanks." She looked over at the stage where the Quartet Quadruplets were singing the same lines over and over. "Weird how they never sing separately. They even bugged Sawa-sensei just to let them sing together."

Atsuya chuckled. "By the way, I heard that Arata and Reika were planning on humiliating some boy from your singing class."

Mia giggled. "Just do your thing."

Atsuya gave her thumbs up. "There's an orange milkshake in the refrigerator if you want it."

"Thanks." Mia smiled sweetly at him and kissed his lips gently.

* * *

After getting her drink, Mia looked around and noticed that there was an empty seat beside Muraku. She smiled and went over. "Muraku. Is this seat occupied?"

Muraku looked up and smiled at his sister. "No, you can sit here."

"Thanks." She sat down and placed her drink on the small table in front of her.

"You were good up there." Muraku complimented her.

Mia nodded and looked around. "Where's the rest of your platoon?"

Muraku nodded to a few seats across from him. "We could not find seats together, so I suggested that we split up."

Mia nodded. Up on stage, the Quadruplets were done and went off stage. "Finally." She muttered.

* * *

Backstage, Daniel was eating some nuts when a stage boy came up to him with an earmic. "Hey, I got your mic."

"Just put it on me."He gestured to the back of his head.

"Ok." The stage boy went around putting it on him. "Congrats though on dating with Reika."

"From five more minutes," Daniel stood up and gave the rest of his nuts to the stage boy. "Then you can have her." He went to get ready to go on stage.

"Really?" The stage boy asked in disbelieve as he followed him.

When they were gone, Reika stepped out of her hiding spot, glaring at Daniel's direction before smirking with the plan in mind.

"And now, for our last performers, we have Sena Reika and Daniel Mars performing a duet!" Sawa pointed at them as they came on stage and left.

"Hi everyone!" Reika greeted cheerfully.

"Hi." Daniel spoke but frowned. His mic did not project his voice.

"This song is for the ladies and especially for those who know my friend Daniel here." She gestured at him who waved and leaned in to whisper to Reika.

"My mic's not working."

Reika jerked back with a mock disappointed face. "Bummer."

Daniel's frown deepened. Reika did not seem upset about it at all, she sounded like she was glad that it happened.

"Hit it, Yuko-nee!" Reika called out and the music started.

Daniel looked at her in confusion as the opening chords came out. It was totally different than what they had practiced. "Wait, what song is this?"

"Just listen." Reika patted his arm. "I think you'll hate it."

Mia, and most of the audience, laughed at that statement.

Reika smirked and started singing and dancing.

_You had it all the day you told me (told me) you want me  
I had it all but let you fool me (fool me) completely  
Yeah I was so stupid to give you all my attention  
'Cause the way you played me exposed your true intentions  
_

Daniel looked around nervously as realisation began to dawn on him. He made a quick dash to the exit on the side of the stage but much to his surprise, Arata was there waiting for him.

"Hi." He waved and turned Daniel around, pushing him back on stage.

_And one day I'll have you beggin' on your knees for me_  
_Yeah one day I'll have you crawlin' like a centipede_  
_You mess with me and mess with her_  
_So I'll make sure you get what you deserve_  
_Yeah one day you'll be beggin' on your knees for me_

Reika gave Atsuya a signal at Daniel and he got the idea. He pointed one of the spotlights at the said boy to show the audience how much Reika meant it when she sang it.

_So watch your back 'cause you don't know when or where I can get you_  
_I've set the trap and when I'm done then you'll know what I've been through_  
_So oh, Mister Player, do you feel like the man now?_  
_And I bet you're nervous 'cause this song makes you freak out_

_And one day I'll have you beggin' on your knees for me_  
_Yeah one day I'll have you crawlin' like a centipede_  
_You mess with me (yeah) and mess with her (yeah)_  
_So I'll make sure you get what you deserve (yeah)_  
_Yeah one day you'll be beggin' on your knees for me_

Daniel had enough and tried to go to the other exit but Sawa was standing there and she smirked and gestured at him to stay there for students cannot exit the stage until they were done with their performance.

_I know I'm being bitter but I'mma drag you under  
'Cause you just don't, don't deserve "Happy ever after"  
For what you did to me after you told me you never felt that way  
It was only just a game  
_

Mia could not help herself and cheered with the rest of the audience.

_(And one day)_  
_And one day I'll have you beggin' on your knees for me (beggin' on your knees for me)_  
_Yeah one day I'll have you crawlin' like a centipede (crawlin' like a centipede)_  
_You mess with me (yeah) and mess with her (yeah)_  
_So I'll make sure you get what you deserve (yeah)_  
_Yeah one day you'll be beggin' on your knees for me_

When the song was finished, Daniel growled and leapt off stage. Reika on the other hand grinned and bowed at the audience who screamed and cheered at the song. For them, Daniel certainly deserved to be humiliated by Reika.

* * *

"Hey." Reika greeted her best friend who was lying on her bed, reading a magazine.

"Hey." Mia nodded back. "Good performance. He deserved it."

Reika grinned. "And it's all thanks to you. If you had not warned Arata about his habits, I would have been brokenhearted by now and he would have an 'A'."

"You should be thanking Muraku for that." Mia waved it off. "He was the one who told me about it."

"Also," Reika sat down on her bed and gave Mia an apologetic look. "I'm sorry for abandoning our duet just to sing with Daniel."

Mia stared at her for a moment and closed her magazine. "I had forgiven you when you sang that song for Daniel. It made me feel that it was worth it to let you go on stage with him if it meant that you can teach him a lesson."

Reika grinned. "Thanks." They shared a small hug and crawled into their beds. "Night."

"Night." Mia said and turned off the lights.


	2. Allergy Sucks

**I don't own anything from Danball Senki WARs**

**Summary: Yuno prepares desserts but is unaware that Arata cannot consume one of the ingredients. Arata is toutured by his allergy reaction and lactose intolerance.**

* * *

Yuno was humming as she mixed some batter in the kitchen one fine Saturday afternoon while most of the students were either lazing in their dorms or enjoying the sun outside.

"Yuno, what are you making?" Catherin asked when she entered the kitchen, looking for her friend.

"I'm making some desserts for everyone." Yuno beamed. "But I can't tell you what it is yet."

Catherin pouted. "Can't you tell me?" She pleaded. "I won't tell anyone."

"Alright," Yuno rolled her eyes and leaned in to whisper in Catherin's ear. "It is…"

Catherin grinned when she heard the name of the dessert. "Wow, it's been a long time since you made them. I'll look forward to it. And don't worry, your secrets safe with me." She pretended to zip her mouth and throw away the key.

"Good, otherwise," Yuno smirked. "I don't think there will be enough for you."

Catherin shook her head a bit and watched her for a moment. "Are you making these for someone? You practically stopped baking since last semester."

Yuno blushed a bit but it was not noticeable to the other girl. "No, I just wanted to let Arata, Mia and Reika try it."

"Whatever you say." Catherin grinned devilishly. "But I bet you want Arata's option of it."

"W-what!?" Yuno stuttered.

Catherin rolled her eyes. "Oh come on, I can see that you like him. I'm not blind you know. But I think you could do better with someone else. He's completely dense and probably does not seem to be the type of person to get a girlfriend."

Yuno narrowed her eyes. Catherin was wrong. Arata is not dense to her feelings and she could tell, with the help of Mia, that he liked her more than a friend, he was just afraid to show it in case she misinterpreted it as he only liked her because she looks like Maddie.

* * *

Meanwhile, Arata, Reika, and Mia were in the Aviane Room practicing their powers after a long time of not using them properly. Each of them was wearing training suits based on the color of their elements.

"Take that!" Reika sent a torrent of water straight at Arata who jumped out of the way to avoid it. With his side open, Mia shot an icy wind at him. But Arata instantly ignited his hands and sent a stream of fire to counter it.

"Good, but not good enough." He smirked. His Fire Staff materialized in his hand. "Come on."

Reika gritted her teeth and nodded at Mia. They ran forward and double teamed against him but every one of their attacks were blocked by his staff. Once he saw his chance, he ignited his staff and started attacking the two girls. Mia felt the brunt of the attacks because her weakness was fire attacks and received several burns on her skin.

Reika was fed up and shaped a water sphere in her hands and tossed it up in the air. Immediately, it busted and water rained down on the trio. Arata's attacks instantly became weaker significantly and Mia froze the water on her burns to heal them.

"You got me." Arata sighed but smirked. "But you should not let down your guard because of that!"

He tossed his staff at Mia who jumped and landed beside Reika, unaware that she fell into his trap. Once the girls were in the same place, Arata shot two fireballs at them, sending them flying.

"Ow!" Reika cried when she landed. Luckily she did not receive a lot of damage since her element is water but Mia had some nasty burns on her chest.

"Arata, you know that I can't stand fire, so can you tone down your attacks a little?" Mia groaned and pushed herself up.

Reika went over to her and healed her burns with her healing water technique. "There, it should sting a little but it'll heal by tomorrow."

"Thanks." Mia shot a glare at Arata who had a slight apologetic yet smug smile on his face. "And wipe that smile off your face!"

"Sorry, but it looks like you're out of practice with your powers."

"Alright, that's enough." Yuko said as she jumped down from the platform she was watching from. "All of you did well today. Arata, your speed needs to be improved; Reika, you need to heighten your accuracy of your attacks; and Mia, try to increase the strength of your powers."

"Hai!"

"Then, all of you better get cleaned up before you head back for dinner." Yuko dismissed them.

* * *

Inside the locker rooms, Mia picked up her CCM and noticed that she had a message from her brother. After reading it, she groaned. "Reika, I don't think I'll be heading back for dinner with you guys. Muraku wants to meet me at the Swallow Café for dinner. He wants to talk about something related to our mom's birthday present."

"Sure." Reika shrugged. "But you'll miss out of Yuno's dessert. She was looking forward to treating us to it."

"How did you know that she's making desserts?" Mia asked curiously.

"Um, Catherin told me." She answered sheepishly.

"I envy you." Mia muttered softly. "Up till now, most of the class still treats me like trash, Catherin being the ringleader."

"Hey, just give them time." Reika wrapped her arm around her friend comfortingly. "They don't know you that well so they cannot help but see Muraku in you."

Mia shrugged and grabbed her bag. "Can you save some of Yuno's desserts for me?"

"Sure thing."

* * *

Later after dinner, Yuno brought out her desserts. "Here we are, chocolate cookie balls."

"Wow." Reika admired the round balls and took one. "Does it have any filling?"

"Yup." Yuno smiled as Reika and Arata each took a bite of their chocolate cookie balls. "It's vanilla cream."

Almost instantly, Reika chocked on hers while Arata quickly grabbed some tissues and started sneezing into them.

Everyone's eyes became wide at their reactions. "What's wrong?"

"Oh dear." Reia muttered. "I think no one told you this, but Arata is allergic to cream and is lactose intolerant."

Yuno's hands flew to her mouth. "I'm so sorry!"

Arata opened his mouth to reply but quickly turned away and went into a sneezing fit. "It's- Achoo- fi- Achoo- ne! Achoo! Achoo!"

"Arata's allergy symptom is uncontrollable sneezing." Reika said, shaking her head. "Did you swallow any of it?"

In the mist of his sneezing fit, Arata managed to nod. Reika groaned and turned to Hikaru who was not too far. "Hikaru, do you mind if I look for Arata's medicine in your room?"

Hikaru shook his head and got up from his seat. "I'll come with you."

Reika nodded and they went off to the dorms. Meanwhile, Arata's sneezing had subsidized long enough for him to call out. "The medicine is in my drawer!"

"Ok!"

Suddenly, Arata clutched his stomach. "I don't feel- Achoo- good. I'm going to- Achoo- lie down in- Achoo- the common room- Achoo- for- Achoo- a while."

"Will you be alright?" Yuno asked worriedly.

Arata nodded. "Ye- Achoo, it's just a bit of- Achoo- stomach upset."

"Do your allergy symptoms include stomach upset?" Sakuya wondered.

Arata shook his head. "No, it's my- Achoo- lactose intolerance."

"Oh dear." Yuno muttered and went to his side. "I'll help you there."

"Tha- Achoo-nks."

* * *

Arata lied down on the couch with a hand over his stomach which was churning uncomfortably each second. But by now, his sneezing had stopped much to his relief.

"Arata, here." Reika handed him his medicine and a cup of water as Hikaru and Yuno sat on the opposite couch.

"Thanks." He took some pills and gulped them down with the water. "I hate my allergy reactions."

"And your lactose intolerance." Reika added. "Get some rest. I've talked to Tome-san and she said that you can sleep here for the night if you find that you cannot go back to your room."

Arata managed to grin weakly. "Did I ever mention that you are the best sister in the world?"

"Once or twice." Reika rolled her eyes. "I'm going to my room now. Good night." She said and left.

Hikaru soon got up to go back to his room. "You better take care of yourself." He said shortly and left.

Arata's eyes adverted to the only person left in the room. "Aren't you going to go too?"

Yuno shook her head. "It's my fault that you are in this state. So, until you go to sleep peacefully, I'm not leaving this room."

Arata gave her a small smile. "It's not your fault. I didn't tell anyone that I cannot take cream or dairy products."

"But still…"

Arata took her hands and held them firmly. "I told you already, it's not your fault. So stop beating yourself for it."

Yuno blushed at the contact. "Ok…"

* * *

"Come on Arata." Reika fumed from where she was watching. "Just kiss her already."

"I don't think he's going to do that."Mia whispered as she appeared beside her, startling her.

"Mia, where did you come from?" Reika hissed.

"I just got back and I heard about everything from Haruki." She whispered back. "Arata never liked it when you spied on him and Maddie on their dates so you should go before he spots you."

Reika scowled and nodded. "Point taken, let's go."

They sneaked away successfully before Arata, who was occupied with Yuno, sensed them.


	3. The case of the invisible stalker

**I don't own anything from Danball Senki WARs**

**Summary: Yuko is tormented by a stalker who is stealing her garments. Arata and co investigate to find the culprit and teach him a lesson. But will the truth be as it is?**

* * *

"Nee-san, that man is here again." Atsuya whispered to his sister as they prepared the equipment used for the bar that afternoon when the students came in after War Time. Much to Yuko's chagrin, most of the students rather go to the drinks bar than use the facilities.

Yuko carefully lifted her head from under the counter where she was sorting the cups to peek at the man. She frowned and motioned Atsuya to take his order. He nodded and plastered a smile on his face as he approached the man.

"Welcome to the drinks bar." Atsuya greeted as friendly as he could. "What would you like to drink?"

"Watermelon juice." The man muttered.

"Right, I'll get right to it." Atsuya bowed and headed back to the counter and found Yuko making the drink. "Nee-san?"

"Watermelon juice is my specialty. Give it to him once the blender stops." She instructed him and went upstairs to the security room.

Atsuya sighed and readied the drink when the blender stopped. He gave it to the man and turned his back on him for a few second to clean a table. When he looked back at the place where the man was sitting, he was already making his way out of the doors, leaving his drink untouched and a few coins beside the glass.

Atsuya groaned and cleaned up the table. "Why does he always come here when it is clear that he does not even like our drinks?!"

* * *

"Nee-san?" Atsuya called as he entered the security room. He was slightly terrified when he saw the angry aura around her.

"Atsuya, we're pulling an all-nighter tonight." Yuko said with her back on her brother, cracking her knuckles. "That man has been rejecting every single drink we have been making for him. I take it as a personal challenge. I don't know who he is, but I'll take him on!"

Atusya's face became fearful and inched back to the door. "Nee-san, there's no need to be so extreme."

"If we don't show him who's boss, he'll turn away all our customers!" Yuko raged. "Do you want that to happen?"

Atsuya quickly shook his head. Yuko huffed and pointed at the screen. "He did not appear in any of the cameras. Work out if they are broken or not first."

"Eh?" Atusya cocked his head to the side and rewind the security footage. Just as Yuko said, no one appeared on the screen other than himself and Yuko. "What…"

"I don't know." Yuko cut him off. "Either he's good in avoiding them, or they're broken."

"Well, I'll look at the cameras first." Atsuya suggested hesitantly.

"Be quick about it." Yuko told him. "We still have to improve the watermelon juice."

* * *

Atsuya rested his head on the counter and ignored the students that were heading back to the dorms. So far, it has been the third day since he had been forced to stay up every night no thanks to his sister.

"Atsuya, are you alright?" Mia asked her boyfriend concernly.

"…No. Can you take my place tonight?" He begged. "I'll go crazy if Nee-san makes me stay up another night."

Sadly, Mia ruefully shook her head. "Sorry, but I need to study for a test tomorrow. But I'll come by tomorrow night if you want since it'll be a Friday night."

"Thanks." Atsuya groaned and slammed his head on the counter again. Mia gave him a sympathetic smile and rubbed the back of his neck. He moaned as the tension in his neck was released. "That feels good."

Mia giggled and rubbed a bit harder. "Why don't you talk to Yuko-san about letting you off for tonight?"

"I doubt that I can since that mysterious man came again this morning. He asked for Nee-san's chocolate milkshake, took a sip and left." He mumbled.

"Must be hard on her pride." Mia shook her head and left.

Atsuya laid his head on the counter hoping to get some shut eye until his sister came back down after showering. He groaned when his CCM beeped with a message and opened it. He flinched when he saw the sender's ID. 'Charlotte? What does she want?'

_When are you going to ask me out? _

_Charlotte  
XXX_

"Like hell I would ask her out!" He hissed and deleted the message.

"What are you talking about?"

"Aiii!" Atsuya jumped out of his chair and landed on the floor. "Reina-nee-san, what are you doing here?!"

"I need to talk to Yuko for a moment." Mito-sensei calmly explained, not surprised at his outburst at all since this was a slightly common occurrence when they were kids.

Atsuya sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "Fine, but just so you know she's in a bad mood."

Mito-sensei nodded and took a seat while Atsuya went to fetch his sister. Her mind unconsciously drifted to the photo in her handbag of her and her father that was taken a few years ago before he went missing. Reaching into her handbag, she slipped it out so that she could look at it again. Tears formed in her eyes and she tightened her grip on the photograph.

"Hey."

Mito-sensei looked up and quickly hid the photo back in her handbag and blinked away her tears. "Yuko."

Yuko frowned when she noticed the tears and reached into the freezer. "Bad day too?"

"Today is my father's birthday." Mito-sensei whispered.

Yuko froze and turned around with a sad frown. "Oh." She placed a cup of ice cream in front of her.

Mito-sensei raised an eyebrow at her friend and at the ice cream. Yuko shrugged and pushed it towards her. "It's on the house."

Skeptically, Mito-sensei took a bit of it. Her eyes lighted up as the taste erupted in her mouth. "It's good."

"Thanks. I made it myself." Yuko pulled a chair and sat down beside her friend. "You know, if my dad did not make me a teacher at Fantasy, I would have opened up my own ice cream store."

"Sounds very much like you." Mito-sensei admitted. They shared a laugh before becoming quiet.

"So what brings you here?" Yuko asked, hoping to break the silence.

Mito-sensei shook her head. "I just wanted to talk to someone. Jin is a good friend, but I feel more comfortable opening up to you."

"Any time." Yuko shrugged. "I just hope that we find your father soon."

Mito-sensei nodded in agreement. She hesitated for a second and asked her friend a question that has been on her mind for a while. "Yuko, it was your father who forbade you to contact me and our old friends. So how would he react if he knew that you are helping me now?"

Yuko gave a careless shrug. "To be honest, I don't really care about that. He left without a word about two years ago and never contacted us. Had another teacher not taken up the role of the headmaster of Fantasy, I might not have been able to come to this island and keep an eye on Arata and Reika."

Mito-sensei lowered her head. "Sorry about your father."

"That's ok." Yuko waved it off. "Atsuya and I learned to live without that bastard. I won't be satisfied until I give him a good beating."

Mito-sensei was unsure of how to respond to this but a cry from upstairs saved her from doing so. "What was that?"

Yuko frowned although her eyes betrayed fear in them. "I don't know. We better take a look."

* * *

Atsuya's day had gone from bad to worse. He had heard some noise from his sister's room but knew it could not be her since she was still with Mito-sensei. His suspicions were confirmed when he opened the door of her room and someone shoveled him away and ran out of the fire escape.

"No!" Atsuya quickly ran to the fire escape but there was no one to be seen. "Where could he have gone?"

"Atsuya, what happened?" Yuko asked as she emerged from the stairs with Mito-sensei behind her.

"A thief!" Atsuya gestured to her room. "There was a thief in your room!"

"What?" Yuko squeaked and ran back into her room. Her worst fears were confirmed when she saw that her lower drawer of her clothes cabinet was open. Among the items inside, she realized that something was missing. Her face became pale and her eyes widened.

"Nee-san?"

"Yuko?"

Yuko turned around, scarring the both of them with her pale face and wide eyes. She opened her mouth and let out a scream.

* * *

"Her tube top was stolen!?" Mia, Arata and Reika exclaimed in disbelieve the next day when Atsuya told them the next day. Haruki, Yuno and Sakuya, who were with them, winced at that.

"I'm afraid that's what happened." Atsuya hung his head. "She's freaked out although she seems normal enough."

"He deserves to be punished by hanging!" Reika cried, whipping out a length of rope from who knows where.

"That's a bit harsh…"

"Then we will kick his ass!" Mia added, completely ignoring what Atsuya said.

"But wouldn't you be caught for assault on someone?" Yuno pointed out. Reika and Mia gasped and glared at her.

"Yuno, do you consider yourself as a woman?" Reika demanded.

"Well, technically, I'm still a teen…"

"How would you like it if some guy stole your underwear and enjoy sniffing it?" Mia countered.

Yuno became pale at that question and Haruki decided that they had gone too far. "Mia, Reika, that's a bit overboard."

"Shut up!" They ganged up on him.

"You are a boy so stay out of this!" Mia jabbed in his chest.

"Arata, say something." Sakuya whispered at him.

"Girls, we have to catch him first before beating him up." That made Mia and Reika stop harassing Haruki and Yuno.

Sakuya fell down at that. "Arata, you are supposed to stop them."

"I did." Arata said innocently. "I stopped them from creating a commotion. Besides, it's not like I'm going to sit out of this. Yuko-nee needs us."

"Good luck in convincing her to let you help her." Atsuya spoke up. "She completely rejected my offer to help earlier and Reina-nee's suggestion to report this to the police."

"We'll think of something." Arata and the two girls got up and went upstairs to talk to Yuko.

* * *

"Yuko-nee, how can you not tell us about something as bad as what happened last night?" Reika demanded when they stormed into the office.

"It's not a big deal." Yuko said nonchalantly.

"Not a big deal to have your tube top stolen?" Mia countered.

"Yuko-nee, let us help you." Arata begged. "We don't want to see you distressed like this."

"Who said that I am distress about this!?" Yuko questioned.

"Your shirt." They said simultaneously. Yuko looked down at her shirt and cursed. Her shirt was buttoned up to the top, an action which was unusual for her since she likes to leave two buttons undone with her tube top showing a bit.

* * *

"So this is the fourth time." Arata mused as he went through his notes of the incident as they gathered in the security room to look over the security camera footage. "Must be a stalker."

"So have there been any weird mail coming in?" Mia asked.

"Yes. Junk mail."

"And any silent calls?" Reika asked this time.

"Yes."

"Do you feel like someone is watching your back in a creepy manner?" Arata questioned as he observed the recordings.

"Yes." Yuko said exasperatedly.

"Wait!" Atsuya slapped his head. "I just thought of something. The mysterious man came in yesterday and your tube top was stolen the same night!"

Everyone looked at Yuko expectantly and she gave in. "Alright," she threw her hands up in defeat. "Each time the mysterious man came in, someone broke into my room and took you know what."

"Do you think it is the same man?" Reika wondered.

"No, I don't think so." Atsuya shook his head. "Their body built was different."

"Then maybe they are accomplices." Mia suggested. "Any luck on the security footage?"

"There's only the back of the culprit in here." Arata tapped his finger on the keyboard in thought. "But there's no mysterious man in any of the footages."

"What!?" Mia and Reika exclaimed.

"It's like he's a phantom." Atsuya remarked. "We didn't have any luck either when we checked them before."

"Then we should set up more security when we see that man. Maybe we could…"

"NO!" Yuko roared. "Are you trying to drive away the customers? I don't want any of you to investigate this matter anymore!"

With that she stormed out of the room, leaving them stunned.

"I'll talk to her." Atsuya offered and ran out to catch up with his sister. He finally caught up to her at the stairs.

"Please let us help, nee-san." Atsuya begged. "We're worried of you."

But Yuko ignored him and continued going down. Atsuya wondered if there was something he could say to convince her when something that Mia mentioned in her conversation with Yuno entered his mind. He might get beaten up for saying it, but it just might give her the push to ask for help.

"He might be sniffing your tube top."

Yuko froze in her steps and Atsuya continued hesitantly. "H-he must be doing it every day. Before bed and when he wakes up…"

Yuko spun around with her face looking like she had seen a ghost. She screamed and ran back upstairs into the security room. "I'll let you investigate! Happy?"

Arata grinned and nodded. "Alright, Mia, you will check the crime scene for any clues. Reika will ask around for anything suspicious and I will enhance the security measures of the building."

"What about me?" Atusya asked, pointing at himself.

"You could keep an eye out for anyone suspicious from the bar." Arata offered. Atsuya groaned and hung his head.

"That's got to be the most boring job." He complained.

"I don't think so." Yuko smirked. "We're pulling another all-nighter tonight!"

* * *

The next day, all of them gathered at the sports centre to reassess their information. So far, none of them had any luck.

"There are some students who saw him during the weekends but other than that, there are absolutely nothing known about him." Reika sighed as she gave her report.

"Nothing suspicious at the crime scene either." Mia said and sat down beside her boyfriend. "What about you Atsuya?"

"Nothing except chili really does not go well with any of our drinks." He mumbled tiredly.

Arata raised an eyebrow but left it. "So the enhanced security measures have gone well…except, Yuko refuses to let me chance the door lock of her room and the fire escape."

"That's not surprising." Atsuya sighed. "Those locks are the same ones that we used to have at home. Yuko once told me that it was our only connection to home while we are on the island."

"Hm…" The four of them sank into deep thought which was interrupted by the sound of the doors opening and heavy footsteps approaching the counter.

"Welcome…" Atsuya trailed off when he saw that it was the mysterious man they were investigating. As usual, he was wearing shades and heavy clothing which struck strange to Arata as it was close to summer already.

"Orange juice." The man muttered.

Atsuya nodded and quickly prepared the juice.

"Mia, follow him later." Arata whispered to her. She nodded and gave an 'ok' sign.

"Here." Atsuya settled the glass in front of the man and he took a sip. Arata and Reika watched intensely to gauge his reaction. Without a word, he placed a few coins on the counter and left.

"I'll go after him." Mia whispered. Arata nodded and slipped off to the security room with Reika.

* * *

"Still no sign of him." Arata sighed as he double checked the security footage.

"That guy is either a phantom or very good in avoiding the camares." Reika remarked.

"I would think that it is the latter." Arata said and readjusted the cameras. "But if he shows up today, it means that there is a very high chance that the predator will strike again tonight. We need to be ready for him."

"But how should we do so?"

Arata drummed his fingers on the table in thought. "I think that if we have the extra security, the culprit won't show up. So, we will pretend to lower our guard and trap him."

Reika nodded. "Sounds like a plan. All we need to do now is to wait for Mia to report in."

The moment those words left her mouth, Arata received a call on his CCM. "Speak of the devil…Mia, what is it?"

_"I lost him. It seems that he noticed me. I'm coming back now."_

"Good. I've came up with a plan to trap the thief." Arata informed her. "Oh, and can you grab some rope on the way? We may need it."

_"Ok." _She answered sounding puzzled.

"Thanks." Arata hung up and was met with Reika's curious face.

"You thought of a plan already?"

"Not exactly original, but it'll work." He assured her. "…Although, I'm having my suspicions of what is the truth of this matter."

"What?" Reika cocked her head.

"The mysterious man in shades…the thief…and Yuko-nee's reluctance to change the lock…" Arata's eyes suddenly lighted up. "I got it!"

"What is it?" Reika asked eagerly.

"All will be known tonight." Arata whispered.

* * *

Atsuya could not believe he would be stay up again that night. He had hoped that Mia had cornered the mysterious man and got an answer for them to find the culprit but she lost him and Arata had made a plan which needed him to stay alert in his sister's room. He groaned and rubbed his face with his hands, wanting to drop off any moment. The sleepless nights were getting to him.

A creak made him snap his eyes open long enough to see a man slipping into the room. From his hiding place in the closet, he could make out the man as the same one he caught two nights ago. Deciding it was time to act, he stepped out of his hiding place and blocked the door. "Wait, you are not going to get away with this!"

The man jumped and quickly tried to run past him but Reika and Mia jumped out of their hiding place in the bathroom and landed on him.

"You're not going anywhere!"

"Not until we are done with you!"

Atsuya stepped back to give them some room for their scuffle as the girls tied up the intruder with the rope Arata asked Mia to get. The lights snapped back on as Yuko and Arata came into the room.

"Alright girls, good job." Arata praised them. "And Atsuya, nice blockade."

"Yuko-nee, this is the guy who has been stealing your tube top." Reika hauled him up and forced him to face Yuko.

"So it was you." Yuko grabbed the collar of the man's shirt and eyed him menacingly.

"Yuko-nee, wait." Arata held up his hand to pacify her. "I want to question him on a few things first."

Yuko huffed and released her grip, sending the man sprawling on the floor. "Fine, but make it quick."

Arata nodded in thanks and turned to Reika. "Can you identify him?"

Reika rummaged through his pockets until she found a wallet and took out a name card. "Hi name is Kimura Tomio. He runs the lingerie shop in town call His Angelica." She announced with a hint of disgust in her voice.

"So, why were you stealing Yuko-nee's tube tops?" Arata questioned.

"I can't stand her wearing tube tops. They are not underwears." Kimura mumbled. He jumped up and started ranting, "Listen! I am an artist! An authentic pioneer! The ideal underwear that refines a woman and her body that makes the underwear shine. My dream is to create the ideal underwear that will bring out the beauty of a woman! To restrict your breast in something other than _my_ underwear is blasphemy! I even sent you those pictures to help you realize it!"

"What is he talking about?" Atsuya whispered to his girlfriend.

"I have absolutely no idea." Mia whispered back in disgust. "But it sounds like he's talking like we women wear underwear only to show them off like sluts."

Atsuya winced and backed off slightly until he was beside Arata who did not like what Kimura was saying. "Let's shut him up before Yuko-nee kills him."

Atsuya nodded but before he or Arata could make a move, Yuko grabbed the collar of his shirt again and shook him. "Are those your last words?"

Kimura squirmed and shook badly. Arata realized that he had to move before it was too late. "Yuko-nee, I do not intend to stop you, but can you wait until we have found out the truth of this case?"

Everyone snapped their heads at him in surprise. Mia cocked her head in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Ah. Kimura Tomio, there is one more thing I want to ask you." Arata said to the man. "How did you enter the building?"

"Eh? The door of the fire escape was unlocked…"

"What are you say?" Yuko demanded. "I checked the lock and it was certainly locked before we carried out this plan."

"It was unlocked, Yuko-nee." Arata calmly stated.

"What?"

"He's been observing this place every day."Arata nodded at Kimura. "And he witnessed a certain person unlocking the door, going in and out of the building through the fire escape. Then he entered from there, the unlocked door. He assumed that it was one of the staff of the building. And we thought he was your accomplice. But," Arata narrowed his eyes. "Both assumptions turned out to be wrong though."

"What are you talking about?" Yuko questioned.

"Yuko-nee, your refusal to change the lock was the right choice." Arata stated, looking straight into her eyes.

Yuko and Atsuya's eyes became wide when they finally understood what Arata was implying.

"After all this time…" Yuko whispered softly. She straightened up and headed for the door. "Atsuya, come on. Mia, Reika, take care of that scumbag. I don't care what you do, just make sure he will eat his words."

Mia and Reika exchanged smirks and eyed Kimura evilly.

"Of course, Yuko-nee."

"Anything to teach this scumbag a lesson."

Arata grimaced slightly and patted the older man's shoulder. "Good luck, although you did bring this upon yourself." With that, he left him to the mercy of two seemingly bloodthirsty girls.

* * *

Yuko turned on the lights at the counter and quickly spotted a box out of place and knew who the deliverer was.

"Nee-san?" Atsuya peaked over her shoulder as she opened the box.

"It looks like father came here all this time to make fun of our drinks." Yuko said humorlessly and took out several items from the box which consists of a custom made blender, a special mixer and an ice cream maker. At the bottom was a letter addressed to the both of them. Atsuya took it out and took out the letter inside.

"It seems to be instructions for his special chocolate milkshake and watermelon juice." Atusya shook his head.

Yuko snatched the letter and shifted through the papers. "If you came back then at least say something…" She stopped when she came to the last letter. Tears filled her eye as she read it.

_ The next time I am here, let me try your ice cream and Atsuya's chocolate milkshake. Give my regards to Arata and Reika. Good luck in finding the Gem of Wishes._

Atsuya's eyes became watery as he too read it. "Father…"

"That bastard." Yuko muttered.

* * *

"Ne, did you guys here?" Yuno asked as she approached the first platoon's table the next day at breakfast. "His Angelica's owner suddenly decided to close down his shop and move back to the mainland."

"Really?" Arata asked barely looking up from his coffee.

"Also, there is a rumor that the stalker that was terrorizing Kuriko-san has been apprehended but instead of turning him to the police, she let him go." Yuno added with a frown.

"It means that she taught him a lesson." Arata said nonchalantly. "If I know her, she would not call the police but deal with the culprit herself."

Mia resisted the urge to snort at that statement. In reality, it was her and Reika who taught him a lesson, not Yuko.

_'Best not to let them know or they'll freak out.' _Arata warned her. She rolled her eyes and finished her toast.

"I don't know about you, but isn't it too much of a coincidence that the owner of His Angelica moved back to the mainland and the stalker was apprehended?" Sakuya wondered.

"It's too much of a coincidence indeed." Haruki said narrowing his eyes sharply at Arata and Mia.

"Who knows?" Arata shrugged. "I have yet to talk to Yuko-nee about this."

"That reminds me, we have to head there soon." Mia said as normally as she could to avoid Haruki being suspicious of them.

"What are we waiting for then." Arata got up with his tray in hands. "Come on Mia. Reika went ahead and she'll probably snatch all the good practice mats if we don't head there now."

"Coming." Mia grabbed her tray and followed him out.

"They're acting suspicious." Hikaru said after they left the building.

"I agree. It's possible they had something to do with apprehending the stalker." Yuno nodded in agreement.

"But aren't we thinking this a little too far?" Sakuya wondered. "It could be that Kuriko-san dealt with the stalker but they don't want to talk about it."

"That's…probably what happened." Haruki slowly said.

"Even so, I have a feeling they know more than they are letting on." Hikaru added.

"Ma, I doubt they would tell us even if we ask them." Sakuy told him.

* * *

"I'm glad the stalker has been caught." Mito-sensei told her friend as they sat at in Yuko's office.

"Me too." Yuko said absentmindedly. "But the identity of the man in shades shocked all of us."

"Who would have thought that your father would come all the way to the island just to see you and Atsuya." Mito-sensei whispered.

"I'm still shock about that. But I doubt that he would be coming back in the near future." Yuko sighed. She studied her friend for a moment and grasped her hand. "We'll find your father. I promise."

"Thanks." Mito-sensei smiled before a quizzical look formed on her face. "By the way, how did you deal with the stalker?"

"I let the girls deal with him." Yuko smiled proudly and took a sip of tea. "They…let's just say that they taught him a lesson he would never forget."

"Did they beat him up?" Mito-sensei asked worriedly.

Yuko looked away sheepishly. "Sort of."

"And you let them?"

"Yup." Yuko nodded.

Mito-sensei shook her head. "I can't believe you did that."

"It comes naturally." Yuko shrugged. "One thing I appreciate is their lack of restrain from time to time. It means that they would do anything for their love ones. I'm sure that they would do the same for you if needed."

Mito-sensei sighed but did not say anything more about it. That was just the way her friend was, she reasoned. There was no need to push it.

* * *

**This has got to be the longest chapter I have ever written. **

**This chapteris mostly based off the fourth episode of Kamisama no Memochou. I own nothing from that anime either.**


	4. Summer Arc- Arriving back at home

**I don't own anything from Danball Senki WARs**

**Summary: Mia and Muraku arrive back at California.**

**Author's note: Sorry it's short and borring but the fun starts in the next chapter. From now on, I will be posting the summer arc here before going back to Different than You and resuming the story.**

* * *

**Summer Arc- Arriving back at home**

_"Ladies and gentlemen, we will be landing momentarily. Please fasten your seatbelts…"_

"Mia." Muraku nudged her when she did not look up from her laptop. She sighed, pulling her earphones out, and gave him a questioning look.

"We're about to land. Fasten your seatbelt."

Mia reluctantly complied and kept her laptop.

"What are you doing on your laptop?" Muraku asked. "You have been staring at it nonstop for the past few hours."

"Just finishing all my summer homework." Mia muttered and leaned back on her chair. "That way, I won't have to worry about it when we are at home."

"Do you always do that when you were coming home from Fantasy?" Muraku inquired curiously.

"What do you think?" Mia asked sarcastically. "With more than half of what I was doing just now and only one month of break, of course I would do as much as I can on the flight home."

Muraku raised an eyebrow. "Then why are you afraid that you would not finish your summer homework before the fall semester starts if it is only half of what you are used to?"

"You don't understand." Mia sighed dramatically. "When we are back at home, the summer wave starts and there is no way I am going to stay cooped up inside a stuffy room doing homework while everyone else is outside at the beach or somewhere in the sun."

"Probably because I'm fine with not having sunburn when I'm outside." Muraku said drily. "You do remember the last time we had sunburns, right?"

Mia flinched at that particular memory. It was when they were twelve and went to the beach without applying sunscreen. By the end of the day, many parts of their skin were red and irritatingly painful, for Mia especially. In fact, most of the red parts of her skin had peeled off during the rest of the week, leading to very itchy scabs. Ever since then, she did not dare to leave the house without putting on sunscreen even in winter.

"But you can put on sunscreen to prevent that or you'll be like a vampire." Mia said airily. "Staying cooped up in the house in the day and only come out at night."

Muraku nearly rolled his eyes. "I'm more interested in making sure that I don't suffer throughout the summer out in the sun."

"Jezz, how could you take risk in LBX battles but be afraid of risking your own skin in real life." Mia snorted. "I'm going to get Maya and your friends to help me make you understand the fun of being outside in summer if it is the last thing I do."

"Don't you dare." Muraku said with a warning laced in his tone. He would have continued had the plane not jerked as they landed.

"I think it is best that we continue this conversation once we are off the plane." Mia remarked mildly.

* * *

Wataru was pacing around the house for the fiftieth time before his mother, or rather, step mother made him sit on the couch with her.

"Calm down Wataru." She said without looking up from her sewing when Wataru started fidgeting. "I'm sure they got slightly delayed at the airport."

"But even so, they would have called to let us know." Wataru pointed out.

"Maya is picking them up right?"

Wataru thought for a moment and nodded. "Yeah. She said that she and Nick will bring the van over to pick them up."

"Then you know what would happen if Muraku, Mia and Maya are all in the same car don't you?"

Wataru's mouth formed an 'o' in realization. Right on cue, there were yells coming from the drive way belonging to Muraku and Maya.

"I told you to take the turn there…" Muraku's somewhat calm tone drifted into the house as they came in.

"You were distracting me!" Maya retorted loudly. "I cannot concentrate when you kept on giving me wrong directions!"

"I know the way home…"

"…better than I do. Yeah right." Maya scoffed. "I live here for goodness sake! I can drive back here from the airport better than you can give directions."

Wataru and his mother sweatdropped and from the looks of the others, this argument have been going on for a while. Mia and Nick exchanged knowing looks and proceeded to pull them apart.

"Cut it out you guys. We're back home already so it doesn't matter whose fault it was that we got lost." Mia said once she managed to push Muraku away from Maya and Nick succeeding in doing the same with her.

"She's right." Their mother spoke up. "Welcome back." She pulled Mia and Muraku into separate hugs. She turned her gaze to Vanessa, Mikhail and Kageto and smiled warmly at them. "Nice to meet all of you. I hope Muraku has been taking care of the three of you." She said with a wink.

The three of them immediately felt at easy with Muraku's mother's easy going attitude. Vanessa shook her head and said, "Normally we watch Muraku's back in War Time and he takes care of us after that, Hojou-san."

Muraku, Mia, Wataru visibly flinched at the greeting Vanessa gave their mother but she did not seem to mind it too much. "I'm sorry, but I don't think Muraku told you this, I'm divorced with Muraku and Mia's father and remarried. My name is Kenbishi Kinako."

Vanessa blushed deep red at her mistake. "I'm so sorry, Kenbishi-san."

"It's alright." Kinako waved it off. "Many of Muraku and Mia's friends made the same mistake before so don't get too worked up about it. Muraku, Mia." She turned her attention to her twins. "Why don't you bring them up to their rooms? I already marked which room is whose."

"Thanks mom." Mia grunted and hauled her bag over her shoulder. She gestured for Vanessa to follow her while Mikhail and Kageto went with Muraku. "Girls are on one floor, boys are on the other."

* * *

"This looks like a nice house." Vanessa commented as Mia led her to her room.

"Yeah. Close to the sea yet not too far from the city." Mia said with pride in her eyes. "You can actually head out to the beach from the back door and reach there in less than five minutes."

"Must be nice, living here in California."

"Yeah. Better than Japan." Mia muttered. She paused in front of a door marked with a sign with Vanessa's name. "Here's your room. The bathroom is down the hall and my room is two doors down." She said pointing at a door with glow in the dark star stickers pasted on the door.

Vanessa raised an eyebrow but did not say anything about it. "I'm going to unpack." She said and went inside.

* * *

Later when Mia was finish with unpacking her things, she turned on her laptop and contacted Reika and Arata through Skype to let them know that she was back at home.

"Hey guys." She greeted them when the call went through.

_"Mia! Did you arrive safely?" _Reika exclaimed.

"Obviously yes." Mia rolled her eyes. "Although my brain nearly gone mad with Muraku and Maya's argument the whole way back from the airport."

Arata chuckled. _"Sounds just like her to pick a fight with someone as calm and cool like Muraku. We just got back to Fantasy by the way."_

"Glad to hear that."

_"And one more thing…"_ Arata and Reika exchanged uneasily looks. _"It looks like the situation here is worse than we thought."_

Mia sat up straighter. "How bad?"

_"Two squadrons of Night Lurkers, twenty in each. It may take us longer to repel them than originally thought."_

"Which means you may not make it back in time for the fall semester." Mia said thoughtfully. "Will there be anyone else from Fantasy going to Kamui?"

_ "It's not finalized yet but Maya and Wataru have been selected. There may be more though."_

"Glad to hear that." Mia slummed back in her chair.

_"We better go now." _Arata sighed. _"We have a briefing in ten minutes."_

"Good luck." Mia sighed too.

_"Have fun in California!"_ Reika chirped.

"Have fun taking down Night Lurkers." Mia quickly shut down her laptop and groaned in her chair. "While they are having fun with Night Lurkers, I'm stuck with babysitting duty. And Wataru, come down!"

Wataru phased through the ceiling and landed on her bed. He gave her a sheepish grin and rubbed the back of his head. Mia raised an eyebrow at him. "How long have you been listening?"

"Well," Wataru looked away. "From the part where Arata said that Maya and I will be deployed to your school."

"Are you afraid of that?" Mia asked and sat down beside him.

"A little." Wataru admitted. "I would rather face Night Lurkers than doing LBX battles any day."

"Oh it's easy once you find how dump your opponents can be." Mia scoffed. "But Muraku and his platoon are not bad. I'll give them that. And there are some decent fighters in our platoon but that's just it. You can't find anyone who is a worthy opponent. Even Bandit is easy even though they play dirty."

Wataru processed this information in his brain and nodded. "Alright, I'll give it a try. No powers?"

"Absolutely no." Mia shook her head. "We can't risk exposure at this stage."

Wataru sighed and slummed back on the bed. Mia gave him an encouraging smile. "Hey, don't worry. Muraku and I will be there to look out for you. Not to mention, nothing is finalized yet. You could be called back to give them some back up."

"Ok." Wataru got up and lifted himself off the bed. "Can you get me back up to my room?"

Mia rolled her eyes and stretched out her hand. Wataru felt himself being lifted up and phased back into his room. Once he was gone, Mia flopped back on her bed to take a nap. "I hope the jetlag passes soon."


	5. Summer Arc-Beach Party

**I don't own anything from Danball Senki WARs**

**Summary: When Mia's laptop crashes, Muraku offers to fix it. And how will the concert go?**

* * *

**Summer Acr-Beach Party**

****Two days after the Houjou twins had gone back to California, Muraku was beginning to realize just how little he saw Mia as a result of her constantly going to the Youth Club.

"Where's Mia?" He asked Wataru one morning after breakfast and Mia did not turn up at all.

"She went to the Youth Club before breakfast." Wataru told him, "practicing for the Summer Beach Party. She did tell you that she's doing the concert, right?"

Muraku then remembered the agreement they had a few weeks ago and nearly groaned. He had forgotten about it with their preparations for the summer. 'I can't believe I have to go for the party.'

As though Wataru knew what he was thinking (which he actually did), he patted his shoulder. "I don't think it's going to be that bad. By the way, mom said I can take you guys down to town before Mia comes back then we have to go grocery shopping at the supermarket."

"Thanks for letting me know." Muraku offered one of his rare smiles. "I'll get Vanessa, Mikhail and Kageto then we can go."

* * *

"That's a wrap." Mia clapped once she and Maya finished the song they were practicing. "I'm starving, let's get some lunch with Wataru and Muraku."

"No thanks." Maya waved it off as she checked her phone. "Nick and I have a lunch date, but I'll see you tomorrow afternoon for some last minute practice."

"Since you are going out with Nick, can I drive your car?" Mia asked innocently.

"Nice try." Maya rolled her eyes. "But until your mom gives the word, you can't drive yet. Besides, I'm driving to the luncheon Nick and I are going to."

"In that case, I'll walk home." Mia sighed and went to shut down her laptop. But something went wrong and the screen froze. Mia instantly paled and tapped some keys to try to unfreeze it but nothing happened.

"Oh no oh no oh no." Mia muttered as she buried her face in her hands. "It's frozen!"

Maya peaked over her shoulder to see what the problem is and turned pale too. "Please tell me it isn't frozen!"

Mia slammed her head on the keyboard and let out a muffled scream.

"I guess that answers that." Maya sighed.

* * *

"That's the mall and beside there's a fountain where we like to hang out after shopping in the mall." Wataru pointed out to the large building and the fountain beside it.

"That's a good place to get some pictures." Mikhail mused. He had surprise his friends the day before when he blurted out that he had an interest in photography.

"Well, it's almost time for lunch." Muraku said, looking at his watch. "Is Mia going to be joining us soon?" He asked Wataru.

"I don't know. Why don't you call her?"

Muraku pulled out his phone and dialed Mia's number but she did not pick up. He frowned and dialed Maya's number instead. It was a while before she picked up.

_"What?" _Maya said irritatedly when she picked up.

"Is Mia with you?" Muraku asked, ignoring her irritation directed at him.

_"She was until we dropped her off at the computer repair shop."_

"Computer repair shop?"

_"Her laptop froze and won't start up…at the worst time too. The beach party is tomorrow!"_

Muraku could not understand why they were getting so worked up over this but dare not to voice this out in case Maya lashed out at him. Instead, he asked, "Which computer repair shop is she at?"

_"The one on Fifth Street."_

"Thanks." Muraku hung up and turned to his friends and Wataru. "I'm going to get Mia wherever she is first and join you guys. Wataru, once you decide on a venue for lunch, let me know where."

Wataru was confuse by his request but agreed nevertheless. He turned to the rest and waved at one of the streets. "Come on, there's a good burger restaurant there!"

Muraku waited until they had left before heading towards the computer repair shop Maya said Mia was at.

* * *

Mia could not believe her ears when the repairman told her that they could not fix it unless she reformats her laptop.

"But I can't!" Mia wailed. "I have several softwares that I cannot easily replace and I haven't backed up some of my documents!"

"I'm sorry." The repairman shrugged. "But unless you let us reformat it, there is no way we can fix it. I tell you what, you can bring it back for now and wait until you made up your mind and then bring it back here to be fixed."

Mia sighed and made up her mind. "I'll come back tomorrow if I cannot find another way."

She gathered her laptop and left the shop. 'Now what am I going to do?'

"Mia!"

Mia looked up and saw her brother running over to her. "Muraku, why are you here?"

"I was trying to call you but you didn't answer so I called Maya and she said that you were here. What happened to your laptop?"

"It froze and now I cannot do anything with it." Mia groaned.

"Why are you getting so worked up about it?"

Mia shot him a glare and stormed down the street. "Of course you don't get it. Maya and I need the music in the laptop because all the other musicians in the club are unavailable to play tomorrow night. Without the music, we cannot perform."

'No wonder she's so worked up.' Muraku silently thought and said to her, "Getting worked up about it isn't going to help. Come on, Wataru and the others are waiting for us at the Burger Palace. We can take a look at your laptop when we get home."

Mia thought about it and figured she might as well join them for lunch. Not to mention, she was getting hungry now.

* * *

"Let me have a look at it." Muraku took Mia's laptop and tried to help her unfreeze it once they reached home after lunch. "By the way, if I cannot unfreeze it, you might have to reformat it."

"I can't." Mia said with her head slumped on the table. "You have no idea how hard to find and how expensive some of those softwares are."

"Then why do you even buy them?"

"Because they are some of the best music making softwares." Mia muttered.

"I can see that." Muraku said mildly. "After this, we have to do grocery shopping."

"I can do that with Wataru, just help me unfreeze it so that I do not have to reformat it."

"Fine."

* * *

"I don't know if Muraku is a computer genius or a rocket scientist." Mia muttered to Vanessa as the two of them filled the shopping cart with the needed groceries. Just before they left, Muraku had managed to fix Mia's laptop without losing any of her files.

"I think he's a computer genius." Wataru answered for Vanessa as he came over to them and dumped a tub of ice cream and a bag of chips into the cart. "Because a LBX scientist, he ain't."

Mia frowned at him and shoveled the ice cream and chips into his hands. "We're on healthy diet this week, remember? No junk food."

Vanessa stiffed her laughter at Wataru's downcast face and pulled a package of apples to the cart. "I have to agree with Wataru though. I once saw Muraku trying to fix up his Gunther when he first joined us with catastrophic results."

"And I thought trying to fix the TV was disastrous."

They shared a laugh and went on choosing fruits for that night's salad.

* * *

"Thank goodness your laptop is fixed." Maya remarked as Mia hooked it up to the speakers.

"I have to admit I didn't know Muraku had it in him to fix it." Mia shook her head. She had traded her usual outfit for a red short-sleeve shirt and jeans. She even forgoed her boots for sandals.

"Alright, it's show time." Maya smirked and took her place on the makeshift stage on the beach.

Mia grinned and went up to her place in front. In the crowd, she could make out Muraku, Wataru and the rest of the sixth platoon. She waved to the crowd and said, "Hello everyone, thank you for coming to our 5th summer beach party organized by the youth club! As an opener, Maya and I will be giving you guys this song."

Mia leaned back and pressed the play button on her laptop to play the song. She turned back to the audience as the opening chords filled the speakers. "This song is about having fun and following your dreams. I want to encourage every one of you to do so this summer and make it one that you'll never forget!"

**_Make it in America by Victoria Justice (Keys: _**_Italics-Mia singing, _**Bold-Maya singing_, Both-both singing_)**

_Got a one way ticket down a 2 way street  
Got the wind in my hair and there's dust on my feet  
I'm just trying to make it in America_

_Only thing to my name is an old t-shirt  
Faded 1985 from a Stones' concert  
And I'm dying to make it in America_

_And I'm singing the words to my favorite song  
With the rag top down and my glasses on  
And I'm driving straight through America_

_I wanna taste the sun  
Cause baby I'm born to run  
I got a feeling that I'm not the only one_

_I, I wanna show some skin _**(Show some skin)**_  
Yeah baby I need the ocean  
And you can't stop me now I've got my heart in motion  
I want to make it in America  
**Make it in America**_

_**I can see my star sunset and vine  
Gonna carve my name in the Hollywood sign  
Yeah I gotta, gotta make it in America**_

_**See me wearin' a smile, even if I'm broke  
I'll be singing the words from a song I wrote  
And I called it Make It In America  
**  
I wanna taste the sun  
Cause baby I'm born to run  
I got a feeling that I'm not the only one_

_I, I wanna show some skin _**(Show some skin)**_  
_**(Yeah) **_Baby I need the ocean  
And you can't stop me now I've got my heart in motion  
I wanna make it in America_

**(Yeah)**_  
**Make it in America**_

_**I can feel the sweat dripping down my face  
I can hear my heart as it starts to race  
Yeah sometimes this world's such a lonely place  
If I just push on I know that  
**  
I wanna taste the sun  
Cause baby I'm born to run  
I got a feeling that I'm not the only one_

_I, I wanna show some skin _**(Show some skin)**_  
Baby I need the ocean  
And you can't stop me now I've got my heart in motion  
I wanna make it in America  
**Make it in America**_

Mia grinned when she hit the last note and was satisfied when the audience cheered for her performance. Muraku even gave her an approving nod. As the evening went on, everyone enjoyed the party and Mia even made sure that Muraku joined in the fun with the help of Mikhail and Kageto.

"Muraku, you can't just stand here and do nothing!" Mia said while attempting to pull Muraku into the crowd to make him relax. "Help me!"

Mikhail and Kageto, being the closest to them, exchanged looks and shrugged. They decided to help Mia since it might be a long time before their leader could have the opportunity to relax again.

"Muraku, why don't you just stick with us if you don't want to join their games?" Mikhail asked. "Kageto and I are planning on getting some barbecued meat. Then we can watch them."

Muraku raised an eyebrow and nodded. "Sure. It's a better compromise than joining their games."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Mia demanded.

"I prefer not to get too involved in events like this."

Mia groaned but knew that this was the best she could get out of him tonight. "Fine, but don't expect me to forget this. The next trip we have to Big Sur, you're going to have to get more involved or we'll leave you there!"

"We'll see about that." Muraku said with mild amusement.


	6. Summer Arc- Camping at Big Sur (Part 1)

**I don't own anything from Danball Senki WARs**

**Summary: It is time for the anual trip to Big Sur for the Houjou's. How will it go and will the Night Lurkers ruin their vacation?**

* * *

**_Summer Arc- Camping at Big Sur (Part 1)_**

**** Once again, Muraku came down to breakfast only to find that Mia was not there…again. He sighed and turned to the closest person to him which turned out to be Nick. "Where's Mia…and why are you here?"

"Didn't you forget?" Nick smirked. "We're going camping at Big Sur like every other year next week. Maya and Mia are now in the den going through everything we need before hitting the supermarket. I'm going to be the driver."

"I thought we always have it in the third week of summer."

"Change of plans." Nick shrugged. "Since we are going in a bigger group than usual, there may not be any space left at the campsite as there is only one more slot big enough if we went with our normal group."

"You go camping every year?" Kageto wondered.

"It may seem weird, but yes. We always go to the same place and never get tired of it." Muraku smiled fondly at some of the memories from past year camping trips.

"By the way…Mia and Maya claimed the job of planning and organizing. I'm obviously driving, so that will leave you and Wataru to do the shopping once the girls are done with the list." Nick informed him.

Muraku sighed and grabbed a cup of coffee. "Fine, but if it contains things that we obviously don't need, I'm skipping them."

"Good for you then." Mia smiled smugly. "Here you go. We need an extra tent and the old sleeping bags are badly worn out. Oh, we need a lot of can food."

Vanessa raised an eyebrow as she read the list over Muraku's shoulder. "That is very long. Why do we need that much food anyway?"

"I don't know but why don't we ask the two boys who ate up all our food the last trip and made us cut the trip short?" Maya said sarcastically. Wataru proceeded to pretend to be engross with his toast while Nick looked away sheepishly.

Vanessa and Muraku would have sweatdropped had their control had not been very good. Instead, they handed the list to Mikhail and Kageto.

"What are we going to do anyway?" Vanessa asked.

"I'm glad you asked." Mia smirked. "The three of you are simply going to plan up some activities to do there and make sure they include a certain anti-social brother of mine." She glared at Muraku at the last part.

Vanessa thought about it and nodded. "Sure thing."

"Great, now you have ganged them up against me." Muraku muttered but the smile on his face told them that he was only joking, earning surprised looks from his friends.

"I'm not ganging them up against you, I'm simply asking them to make you have fun. You're always too serious at school but this is home, which means you can relax. But no, you choose to remain indifferent." Mia sighed dramatically.

"I'm not always serious at school."

Mia snorted and ran upstairs to her room but they could hear her say, "Keep tell that to yourself."

Muraku merely shook his head and went back to drinking his coffee. Vanessa turned to Wataru with a raised eyebrow. "Are they always like that?"

"At home, yes. But it's better than the past few years. Normally they would be colder and harsher to each other but now, it's almost like their teasing each other." Wataru shook his head. "I guess going to the same school together finally did that."

* * *

_Whoa-uh-oh  
It's always a good time  
Whoa-uh-oh  
It's always a good time_

_Woke up on the right side of the bed  
What's up with this Prince song inside my head?  
Hands up if you're down to get down tonight  
'Cause it's always a good time_

Muraku tried not to grimace as Mia and Maya sang on top of their lungs to the music on the radio with Nick occasionally joining in. Wataru sweatdropped and handed Muraku and the others some earplugs. "They tend to get very hyped up on road trips. So just bear with them."

"Man, who knew they can get very loud?" Kageto muttered, stuffing the ear pluggs in his ears.

"I wouldn't say that to them in the face." Mikhail muttered back while doing the same.

"I would like to see what happens when that happens." Vanessa smirked and reached forward to turn up the volume, earning glares from the boys. "What? I like the song."

Mia smirked and high fived her. Once the song was over, Maya switched to another radio station and they started singing again, much to the dismay of the boys.

* * *

Once they finally got to the camping site, they unloaded the things from the van and Maya proceeded to allot the tents.

"Alright, girls one tent, the boys will have two with Nick and Wataru in one and Muraku, Mikhail and Kageto in the other."

Muraku raised an eyebrow. "Why are Nick and Wataru sharing a tent?"

"Because I say so." Maya retorted.

"No offence, but I thought it would be four person a tent and yet, you are splitting us up unevenly."

"I like it that way. Wataru wouldn't snitch like you if he ever caught Nick going out in the middle of the night and I know that Mia wouldn't either. Vanessa, I'm not sure yet, but I believe she would not right?" She turned to her with a glare that told Vanessa what would happen if she didn't agree. She gulped and nodded.

"Now you are threatening my friends." Muraku said as annoyance flared up in his eyes.

Maya snorted and rested her hand on her hips. "And I thought you were anti-social."

Mia, Wataru and Nick sweatdropped and turned to the others. "I vote that we leave them alone and set up the camp. They can join us once they are done with their…debate."

"Well," Vanessa started and glanced back to where Muraku and Maya have started a full blown argument like their first day here and quickly nodded, followed by the others. "Anywhere is better than with them now."

Mia let out a small chuckle. "On some days it gets worse than this, trust me. They have been clashing at each other since we were toddlers. I sometimes think it has to do with their personalities."

* * *

"Ok, we have about ten minutes before Vanessa comes out of the shower." Maya said seriously that evening after dinner. No activities were planned since it was getting late. "What is the latest news from Arianna?"

"They won one battle there but are warning us to be on the lookout. Latest intel says that Night Lurkers were spotted at Big Sur." Mia recited from the hologram image screen from her necklace.

"Tell me again why it is a good idea to have Muraku and his friends here again?"

"They would easily suspect something's up especially since he joins us every year for the trip." Mia pointed out.

"But we're literally revealing ourselves to the three of them." Maya sighed in agitation.

"I could always try something to eras their memory but I'm not very proficient at it yet, so we'll have that as our last resort…" She and Maya jumped when they heard screams from outside. "Oh no."

Grabbing a torchlight, they ran outside the tent and saw a group of teenagers from another group running away from what looks to be wild dogs.

"…That's it?" Mia blinked in disbelief.

Maya nodded with the same disbelieving look. "Yeah, but we might as well help them before Nick and Wataru get here."

Mia nodded and ran back to the camp to grab a packet of dried meat she remembered Muraku unpacked from the food bag. When she got back, she snatched it out of Wataru's hands.

"Hey!"

"No time explaining, I need this!"

She ran back to where Maya was and tossed a few meat slabs at the dogs, distracting them and allowing the teenagers to get away safely.

"Thanks for the help." The leader of the teenagers came up to them later. "We wouldn't have been able to get away if it weren't for you."

"Just be careful next time. Camping away from the site is dangerous because of the cliffs and wild animals like dogs." Maya deadpanned. "Didn't you read the signs when you arrived here?"

"Nope, because we were too infuriated with several girls like you." One of the boys waggled his eyebrows as he tried to flirt with them. Mia and Maya however rolled their eyes.

"Sorry, we're taken and my boyfriend must be wondering where we are. So goodnight and I hope to never see your face again." Maya stormed off once she was done with her speech, leaving the boy dumbfound and his friends and Mia trying in vain to hide their laughter.

"So got you dude." The leader laughed out loud. "But by the way, since you had to use your food to save us, why don't we give you some of our stew?"

"Well, we kind of stocked up enough food for the next few days so we don't need more. But thanks for the offer anyway."

"Just thought I'd ask." The leader shook his head. "Thanks again."

Mia nodded and went back to the camp where Maya was complaining about the guy who tried to hit of them.

"…And if he tries to flirt with me again, I'll stuff glue down his mouth so that he will never speak again!"

Mia rolled her eyes and sat down beside Muraku who gave her a disapproving look. "You haven't apologized to Wataru for taking the dried meat."

"In my defense, it was for a good cause and besides, he actually took it without asking again. This is why we ran out of food the last time we were here."

Muraku rolled his eyes as he knew Mia always had a comeback for everything he tried to scold her for. Oh well, he might as well relax since everyone else was. With that in mind, he slumped against his chair as Nick took out his guitar and played some campfire songs softly.


	7. Summer Arc - Camping at Big Sur (Part 2)

**I don't own anything from Danball Senki WARs**

**Summary: It is time for the anual trip to Big Sur for the Houjou's. How will it go and will the Night Lurkers ruin their vacation?**

* * *

**_Summer Arc- Camping at Big Sur (Part 2)_**

When Muraku woke up at their second day at Big Sur, he heard someone plucking the guitar Nick brought softly and was curious since he was sure that Nick usually did not wake up this early. Not wanting to wake up his tent-mates, he quietly pulled on his jacket and unzipped the flap. He was mildly surprise when he saw Mia on the log with the guitar in hand while humming quietly to herself.

_No matter how far we go  
I want the whole world to know  
I want you back  
And I won't have it any other way  
No matter what the people say  
I know that we'll never break  
Cause our love was made  
Made in the USA  
Made in the USA_

"That was nice."

Mia jumped and fell off the log. Muraku hurried over and helped her up. "Sorry for scaring you."

"Way to ruin my mood." Mia groaned and picked up the guitar. "Why are you up this early anyway?"

"I heard you playing." Muraku said and sat down beside her. "You know, I've barely seen you at all the whole time we came home. It almost feels like you are avoiding me."

Mia lowered her head with a sad frown. "Sorry, but I just have a lot on my plate at the moment."

Muraku raised a questioning eyebrow with made Mia groan. "Look, you won't understand much of it. You're not like Wataru or me."

"How does this have any connection with your powers?"

"Let's just say with great power comes great responsibilities." Mia said after a while of thought.

Muraku narrowed his eyes. "Mia, what are you hiding from me?"

Mia looked away and refused to say anything. Muraku sighed and looked straight ahead. "If it is about Mikhail, Vanessa and Kageto finding out about you…they are already suspicious of you."

Mia's head snapped up in shock. "What?!"

"Do you remember that day when they were cornered by muggers?"

Mia vaguely remembered that incident since she was running late for practise and had taken a short cut through the alleys. She remember seeing several students cornered by three large men and saved them by using her telekinetic powers to levitate a few empty cans nearby at their heads to lure them away. Once she was sure that they were alone, she put them to sleep with her telepathy and left. Thinking back now, she realised she never made sure the students did not see her nor her powers. Not to mention, she did not have a good look at them.

She paled when she realised she never made the connection to them when Muraku told her about it. "Did they say if they saw anything?"

"Nothing other than they saw you running by and those cans were flying on their own." Muraku flicked his eyes to his tent and back at Mia. "I'm telling you this just in case they put two and two together then you will be prepared to deal with their questions."

"Thanks." Mia said after a while of silence. She got up and brushed her pants. "We better get the others up so that we can have breakfast."

Muraku nodded in agreement and got up too. But before either of them could take a step, screams erupted from the west side of the campsite. Both of them paled and ran over to take a look. Once they got to the site of commotion, Mia gasped when she saw the three Night Lurkers that were scaring off the campers.

"Mia?"

Mia looked at her brother who had an understanding look in his eyes. She nodded and went out to face the Night Lurkers there while Muraku went back to their camp to wake up the others and get Maya and Nick to help her.

XXXXXXXXX

"Hey, why don't you pick on someone your own size!?"

The Night Lurkers spun around just as Mia's shoe connected with one of them in the face. She did a backflip and kicked away the other two. The Night Lurkers growled and went in to attack her but Nick and Maya jumped over her and used their powers to send them flying away.

"You're ok?"

"Yeah." Mia nodded at Maya. They jumped out of the way before one of the Night Lurkers can impale them with its claws. Mia opened her fist and a blue beam was sent firing at it. The beam struck the Night Lurker and encased it in ice.

"Snow Katanas!" Mia called with her hands raised and two white katanas materialized in her hands.

"Icicle Strike!"

Mia's Katanas glowed white and became ice in the shape of an icicle. She thrusted the both of them at the Night Lurker encased in her ice and destroyed it. Mia grinned victoriously as her weapons vanished and did not see the Night Lurker Maya was fighting open its palm and a red laser shot out of it. Maya swerved left to avoid it. Instead, it hit Mia's leg and she cried out in pain.

"No!" Maya's anger grew and she summoned out her Ice Axe and tried to slash it but it avoided her by flipping over her and ran towards Mia. "Mia look out!"

Mia barely turned around when the Night Lurker slashed at her back just below her neck. Mia hissed in pain but managed to use her telekinetic powers to throw him into Maya's waiting axe. The Night Lurker twitched but eventually went limp and disintegrated. Maya sighed in relief and looked over at Nick who finished off the last Night Lurker with his Leaf Spear.

"Finally. It's over." Mia panted out. Her leg and back were hurting but she managed to stand up only to fall over. Luckily Maya caught her before she hit the ground.

"Are you alright?"

"I don't think so." Mia grimaced when her cousin prodded her back.

"You don't have any broken ribs. And since you could stand up, I don't think there are any broken bones." She told her.

"Hey." Nick called as he approached them. "We better get out of here. Maya, once we get back to the camp, bring her back to your tent and patch her up. I'll have the others pack up and we're out of here. It's not safe."

"Do you think it was the last of them in this area?" Mia wondered out loud as Nick heaved her onto his back.

"Hard to say. But I think we can safely say that we won't be seeing them anytime soon." Nick grunted. "As soon as we get back to Venice, I'm bringing you to the hospital and then drop the others back home."

"I guess I'll call Yuko-sensei to inform her of this then." Maya sighed.

XXXXXXXXXX

The trip back to Venice was quiet. Once the three of them got back, they were met with questions as to where they went and how Mia got hurt. Luckily, Nick made up the excuse that Mia went to help the campers get away and got hurt in the process and they went to save her. But they can tell that those from their group who did not know about their powers were unconvinced.

Right now, Mia was fast asleep on Muraku's shoulder while he read a book. In front of him, Vanessa was thinking about something and glanced back at Mia with an odd look. Muraku felt her glance and looked up. "Vanessa, is there anything wrong?"

"Oh, no, it's nothing." Vanessa quickly shook her head. "I was just thinking about something and was curious."

"About what?"

Vanessa hesitated but shook her head. "It's nothing."

Muraku closed his book shut and folded his arms. "Vanessa, you can tell me about it."

Vanessa's eyes flickered to Mia and back at him. Muraku understood the message and dropped it. If she wanted to ask something privately, he was willing to wait, especially if it was about Mia.


	8. Summer Arc - Heart to heart talk

**I don't own anything from Danball Senki WARs**

**Summary: Vanessa and Mia have some heart to heart talk relating to Muraku at the beach and Mia finds a startling revelation about Maddie's incident after that.**

**PS: The last part of the chapter is canon in Different that You. For those of you who are confuse now because of the chapter skip, you will need to read Chapter 30-32 of Different that You. (I know it is confusing but I promise I will try and not do this again.)**

* * *

**Summer Arc - Heart to heart talk**

When Muraku stepped into the house, he was immediately greeted with silence. He frowned and went to the kitchen where he hoped to find his mom but she was nowhere to be seen. "Mom? Mia?"

"It looks like they're out." Mikhail told him and gave him the note he found in the living room.

Muraku took it and read it out loud. "Will be gone for the rest of the afternoon at the book club. Mia and Wataru are at the beach with Maya. You can join them if you want. Love, mom."

"So can we go to the beach then?" Vanessa asked eagerly.

"You guys go ahead." Muraku said as he closed his eyes. "I still have to finish some of my homework."

"Huh?" Vanessa tilted her head in confusion. "I thought we planned to do it together later tonight."

"I want to have a head start." Muraku explained as he headed upstairs.

"Man, I wonder why he doesn't want to join us." Vanessa sighed after Muraku went up.

"I suppose it can't be helped." Mikhail shrugged. "Mia did warn us that Muraku does not like having fun and slaking off."

"It's his loss then." Vanessa sighed again and turned to him. "Are you going to the beach too?"

"Sure. But I have to call my mom first." Mikhail told her as he started up the stairs. "She's been complaining that I haven't called her in a while." He paused and turn back to her. "Don't you have to call your parents too?"

"My parents are really busy most of the time so I don't call them often. It's them who make the call, not me." Vanessa shrugged. "Well, I'll go on ahead first if you don't mind." She said and went up to her room to grab her things. Mikhail shook his head with a small smile as Vanessa ran past him and went up to his own room.

* * *

"Man, what's taking them so long?" Maya sighed as she, Mia and Wataru chowed down the sandwiches she brought for lunch. "They should be back already so what's taking them so long to call us for our whereabouts."

"Wait, today is Tuesday so mom should be at the book club so I think she'll probably leave a note or something to tell them we're here." Wataru suddenly remembered.

"That explains why." Maya grumbled and took a huge bite out of her sandwich. "And Nick hasn't got the message yet by the looks of it."

Mia shrugged and got up, brushing the sand off her pants. "Whatever. I'm going to get something to drink at the vending machine."

"Get something for me too." Maya raised her hand and placed some change into Mia's hand.

"Sure." Mia nodded and jogged to the closest vending machine. Her eyebrows shot up when she spotted the person in front of the vending machine. "Vanessa!"

Vanessa looked up from the vending machine and waved. "Oh, Mia."

Mia grinned and looked around. "Where are the rest?"

"Muraku said that he does not want to join us and catch up on his summer homework." Vanessa sighed. "And Mikhail will be joining us later after he's done with his call to his mom."

Mia groaned and rubbed her head. "Really, I don't know what is worse, Muraku being a vampire or Muraku being a homework freak."

"He just wants to get over with it as soon as possible." Vanessa shrugged as she took her drink from the vending machine and stepped aside for Mia to make her purchases. "He has that tendency to skip out on all entertainment just to make room for his revisions and whatnot."

"Then he should have taken a leaf out of my book and did everything on the flight back home." Mia scowled lightly as she took two cans of drinks out of the vending machine. She turned to Vanessa and gestured for her to follow her. "So what is Muraku like as your platoon captain?"

Vanessa tilted her head and thought for a moment. "He's usually serious and does not show much emotion…"

"That summons him just about right." Mia muttered under her breath.

Vanessa laughed lightly and continued, "But he's a good captain and is concern for our wellbeing outside and during War Time. There are times we try to back him up in War Time only for our roles to be reversed. All in all, he's just not the type of person who would easily flustered but the first one to care for those beside him."

"I see." Mia nodded in understanding. "But I bet that not once have you ever seen him laugh or cry."

Vanessa sweatdropped and sheepishly nodded. "Yeah. But I've seen him get angry before at a senior who was badmouthing Mikhail's accent."

Mia shivered as she remembered her own experiences of watching her brother get angry. "I bet he was very scary then."

"Yup." Vanessa sighed. "None of us dared to approach him after that but he did apologise to us later for losing his temper."

"It sounds to me that it was not as bad as what I remember." Mia rolled her eyes. "I'll warn you here and now that when Muraku loses his temper to the highest degree, he attacks everyone blindly and somethings outright say horrible things when he does not actually mean it."

Vanessa blinked in surprise. "What…"

"Hey babes." A teenage boy suddenly stepped in front of their path with two others appearing behind them. "Wanna hang out with us? We could use some company from beautiful girls like you."

Mia rolled her eyes and grabbed Vanessa's arm. "Sorry, but if you'll excuse us, we have to be getting back to our friends." She pulled Vanessa away by the side but another boy blocked their way.

"And where do you think you are going?" He ogled them.

Mia's eyebrows twitched in irritation and used every trick she knew to calm herself down before she got really angry at them. "Did you not hear me or do your ears really need to be cleaned? We need to get back to our friends."

"Oh come on, we'll be really quick." The leader smirked. "Especially if you willingly come with us and let us have some fun with the both of you."

Vanessa was obviously pissed off with the implications of his last comment but Mia looked like she was positively going to explode. "Do you want to repeat that?" She trusted her cans into Vanessa's hands and cracked her knuckles.

"Now, now. There is no need to get violent." The leader shook his head and the whole gang laughed, unaware of the pain they will be going through.

"Oh really?" Mia's lips twisted up into sardonic smirk and sent a roundhouse kick straight at his face.

"Why you…!" The guy on her right lunged at her but she merely sidestepped him and bought her knee up into his stomach.

She turned to the ones behind her and cocked an eyebrow. "Who's next?"

They exchanged nervous glances and ran off, leaving their two friends in the sand. Mia smirked and tossed her hair. "I figured so."

Vanessa could only watch in amazement as Mia took down two guys who were twice her size and remembered some of her comments she always mentioned about beating up Bruce Bladow for flirting with her to Muraku and shivered. Mia was certainly not one to be underestimated outside of War Time. She nearly sympathized her next victim.

"Thanks for holding those." Mia suddenly smiled and took back her cans from Vanessa, snapping her out of her thoughts. "Maya will kill me if I dropped those."

"That was an impressive display back there." Vanessa remarked mildly.

"Oh that was nothing but a warm up." Mia stretched her muscles. "And I'm getting a little out of practise recently."

"But, I think it was not necessary to beat them up." Vanessa sweatdropped.

"Oh come on." Mia rolled her eyes. "I've been chased by even more perverted guys at school and this is becoming a habit. I'm glad that I haven't been in trouble yet."

"Haven't you talked to Muraku about it?" Vanessa asked curiously. "I'm sure he'll do something about it."

"No. I don't want to rely on Muraku every time something goes wrong for me." Mia said nonchalantly. "I want to set my own identity as my own person, not as Muraku's sister. That will not work if I depend on him for my problems. So I'll just take care of them myself in my own way."

"But that does not mean you can just go around beating other people up." Vanessa deadpanned.

"I don't really care." Mia shrugged and suddenly stopped. "Here we are." She pointed at the spot which was now occupied by Maya, Wataru and a newly arrived Nick. The latter suddenly ran up to Maya and tossed her over his shoulder, throwing her into the ocean. Wataru was rolling around in laughter but Maya suddenly jumped out of the water and chased both Nick and Wataru down the beach.

"Oh well. It looks like they won't be joining us anytime soon." Mia shrugged and sat down on one of the blankets with Vanessa beside her. "So, do you have any crushes on guys?"

Vanessa screwed her eyes in thought and shook her head. "Not really. Since I am literally surrounded by guys in my platoon, I don't really think much of them more than friends. Although…"

Mia took a sip of her drink and inwardly smirked. "Although what?"

"Nothing." Vanessa said quietly and drank her drink. There was a pause for a few minutes before Vanessa continued. "I used to have a friend I was close with when I was in elementary school but he moved away a couple of years ago before I went to Kamui Island to study. He was the one who got me into LBX."

"Ah." Mia nodded in understanding. "The friends who made huge impacts in our lives and decisions tend to be the ones who stick in our minds the longest."

"I guess so." Vanessa shrugged. "I don't actually remember what he looks like or what his name is since it has been a long time ago and we didn't have any form of contact with each other."

"I see." Mia closed her eyes but they shot open when she felt herself being drenched head to toe and Vanessa in the same state as she was. She turned her head up with a glare at Nick and Wataru with pails in their hands and laughing.

"So that's how it is, isn't it?" Mia fumed and exchanged nods with Vanessa. Together, they grabbed the pails out of their hands and dumped them over the head of the boys. They spun them around very quickly and pushed them into the sea. Mia and Vanessa laughed and shared a hi-five.

"Looks like you managed to teach them a lesson." Maya said as she came back with a smirk.

"This is war!" Wataru yelled after prying off the pail off his head. He scooped up some water into the pail and tossed it in the girl's direction but they jumped aside at the last moment and the water went flying straight at Mikhail's face as he was coming up to them.

Everyone started laughing at Mikhail's stun and shocked face until Mia took the advantage of the confusion to grab the pail off of Nick's head and splash more water at Maya and Vanessa.

"Mia!" Maya shrieked. "Who's side are you on?!"

"No one's." Mia flashed an innocent smile and took off running as Nick and Maya chased her further out into the sea. Back with Mikhail and Vanessa, Mikhail tossed Vanessa over his shoulder the same way Nick did on Maya before and dumped her in the sea which created a huge splash, drenching Wataru at the same time.

"Mikhail!" Vanessa yelled at him.

"Sorry." Mikhail smirked, not sounding apologetic at all. He offered his hand to Vanessa and she took it. But she pulled at it suddenly and Mikhail found himself falling face down into the water. Wataru started laughing at him until Maya dumped the forgotten pail filled with water on him. Behind her, Mia was now fully drenched and Nick was no better than her.

* * *

"This is an interesting day for a day at the beach." Vanessa remarked later that evening as she, Mikhail and Muraku sat down at the porch to do their homework. "You should have joined us Muraku."

"Sorry but I did not want to end up like how Mia is now." Muraku said with a small smirk and Vanessa and Mikhail laughed nervously. Because she was drenched in water, all of the sunscreen Mia applied earlier was washed off and she ended up having sunburn on the visible parts of her hands and legs.

Vanessa checked all her books and frowned. "Muraku, do you have some graph paper?"

Muraku looked up and shook his head. "No, but I think Mia has some."

"I'll go and get some from her." Vanessa said as she got up. "I'll be right back."

"I'll come with you." Mikhail offered. "I need some too."

Vanessa nodded and they went up to Mia's room and knocked on the door. "Mia, can we borrow some graph paper?"

"Sure." Mia called. "But you have to come in and get it. My fingers are all covered in cream."

Vanessa and Mikhail exchanged sheepish looks and went inside and saw Mia rubbing some cream on her reddish arms. She pointed to the bookshelf at the end of the room. "It's in the blue folder on the third shelf."

"Thanks." Mikhail nodded and pulled out the blue folder but at the same time, his arm knocked over a small photo frame on the small table beside the shelf. Mia jumped and immediately grabbed the photo frame just as it hit the floor.

"Sorry about that." Mikhail apologised.

"Oh, it's fine." Mia assured him and straightened the photo frame back on the table.

Vanessa glanced at the photo and narrowed her eyes. Instantly, she was fixed on the dark haired girl with green eyes and red glasses in the photo beside a slightly younger Mia. "Mia, who is she?" She asked and pointed at the said girl.

Mia looked over at the person Vanessa was pointing and inwardly berated herself for being so careless and left the photo out in the open in the first place since the girl that Vanessa was pointing at was actually Maddie, who died on Kamui Island!

"She was a friend of mine." Mia laughed nervously.

"I've seen her before." Vanessa said with a frown. "On Kamui Island."

Mikhail took a closer look at the photo and realized that his friend was right. "Wasn't she the victim of that truck accident last year?"

Mia's eyes shot up in surprise. As far as all of her findings of the case showed, neither Maddie's identity nor her photo was released to the public since they could not identify her. They only found out about it after Arata had stolen her body from the morgue that was keeping it since he could feel her death. Then how could they have known?

Mia's nervous face was replaced with a grim frown. "How did you know about her?"

"She was asking us for directions to the school that day just a few minutes before the accident." Mikhail said while shaking his head. "Just after we gave the directions to her, she went around the corner and the next thing we knew, the truck ran over her."

Vanessa looked at the photo and back to Mia. "Now that I think back about it, something about the newspaper reports of the driver's statement did not match up to something. The news said that it was because she wandered onto the road without noticing the truck because she was reading her map but if I remember correctly, she kept her map in her bag after we gave her the directions."

Mia clenched her fist as she realized that for the newspaper to go so far as to lie about a simple thing means that only someone with a lot of power and authority must have been able to manipulate the situation to put the blame of the incident on Maddie.

"I need you two to do me a favour." She suddenly asked. "Don't tell Muraku about her." She said, pointing at Maddie in the photo. "She is one of the reasons why I decided to attend Kamui Daimon and I don't want him to find out too much until I can find out the truth."

Vanessa and Mikhail exchanged uncertain glances. But the look on Mia's face told them how serious she was so they reluctantly agreed.

* * *

"What took you so long?" Muraku asked Mikhail and Vanessa when they came back down.

"Sorry, we had a hard time finding the right folder." Vanessa lied.

Muraku raised an eyebrow, clearly not believing Vanessa's lie. He noticed that both his friends were acting rather stiffly around him which made him raise the question in his mind as to what happened when they went to get the graph paper.

'I need to ask Mia about this…' He shook his head to clear that thought. 'No, I'll wait for her to tell me what is going on if she went so far as to make Mikhail and Vanessa hide whatever happened from me.' Though he hoped that it will be soon.


	9. Deleted Scene - Arata and Reika's past

**I don't own anything from Danball Senki WARs**

**Summary: Set during episode 13. This is a deleted sceen of what happened after that and will look into Arata and Reika's past.**

* * *

**Deleted scene - Arata and Reika's past**

'I finally understand what you are trying to say, otou-san.' Hikaru smiled to himself. He turned the photo frame in his hands around and undid the cover, revealing another photo of him and his father with his first LBX in hand.

"Hey."

Hikaru spun around and nodded in greeting. "Arata."

Arata eyed the photo in his hand and leaned against the railing beside his blond friend. "I heard from Mia about what you did during War Time. I have to say that I'm impress with your skills."

"It's nothing compared to yours." Hikaru said disgruntledly.

"You know, I actually didn't touch a LBX until I was thirteen. It took me three years just to achieve the level I am at now." Arata said with a small smile. "And in actual fact, I was the last person out of my gang to even learn how to operate a CCM."

"But you took three years while I started earlier and yet…"

"You can ask Reika and Mia about how I practised back then." Arata cut in. "They would probably tell you that I would sneak out at night just to get in some practise and eventually neglect my martial arts practise. My skills are obtained only through sheer hard work. I don't have a natural talent like you to be a player as good as you."

Hikaru raised an eyebrow and kept the photo frame in his pocket. "I see."

"I'm envious of you." Arata suddenly admitted. "You have a father who gave you your LBX. I got my first one from a senior who passed it down to me."

"Don't you have a father too?" Hikaru asked curiously, not realizing how this question hit Arata hard.

Arata lowered his eyes and pushed himself off the railing. "…I was abandoned at the doorsteps of a rundown orphanage just the day after I was born with nothing but my birth certificate with my name on it wrapped around me."

Hikaru did not know how to response to this but Arata shook his head. "Don't be sorry for me if that's going to be your reaction. I'm over it. When I was four I had the experience of the first parental figures in my life so I'm not too affected by my abandonment too much now."

"Oh…"

"Well, you may be jealous of my skills, I am jealous of the fact that you have parents who love you." Arata said and turned away. "I hope that one day, we can truly put aside our differences and become comrades who don't have jealousy and rivalry between them."

With that, he left, not turning around to see Hikaru stun by his words.

* * *

_ Arata could not believe his eyes when he saw the same car that his foster parents used to drive when they were alive moving along the highway down the mountain. It took him a second to register that this was in fact his memory and smiled bitterly. He then remembered that each time he mentioned something about his past to anyone, he would dream back about the day he lost his foster parents and the subsequent events after that._

_ "Are we there yet?" Little eight-year-old Reika complained from the back seat of the car._

_ "Just a little more longer, Rei." Their foster mother chuckled. _

_ "Reika, we should be grateful that they can bring us out especially on a stormy day like this." A younger Arata spoke up quietly._

_ Reika scowled and pursed her lips. "Fine."_

_ "Arata is right about one thing though, the rain is getting heavier so we'll be going slower now." Their foster father told them from the driver's seat._

_ Arata frowned as he looked out of the window. The storm was certainly getting worse but he was sure that it will pass soon. How wrong he was. The next thing he remembered was screams and the car swerving around and eventually off the cliff. It was not hours later that he realized that he in a hospital room with Reika in the next bed._

_ A kind nurse had come in later and told him that his parents were dead and it was a miracle that he and Reika were alive. They were discharged a month later and that was when the nightmare started._

_ "Freaks!"_

_ "You killed your parents!"_

_ "If only you had died too!"_

_ Until now, Arata still remembers every single hurtful remarks directed at him and Reika after that to the point where it became unbearable for her._

_ "Arata, I want to run away." Reika tearfully told him. "I don't want to listen to them anymore."_

_ "I know." Arata told her understandingly. "I heard that they will put us back in the orphanages if we stay. Pack up your things and wait for me."_

_ Reika nodded and slipped back to her room and quickly threw all of her things in her backpack and waited patiently for Arata to slip over. He eventually did ten minutes later with his own backpack. "Ready?"_

_ Reika nodded and she created a waterslide out of the window for them to get out of the second floor without needing to go through the front door where the relatives of their foster parents were guarding. They slid down it and ran out of the backyard with no direction in mind._

_ Two weeks after living on the streets with Reika using her acting skills to beg for money or food, they managed to get by until Yuko found them._

_ "Please, can you give us some bread?" Reika said pitifully as she extended her hands to the blond haired teen in front of them._

_ The girl eyed them in surprise and observed them carefully. "Are you two Valorites or Vigilnites?"_

_ They exchanged glances and turned back to the girl. "What are Valorites and Vigilnites?"_

_ The girl then realized that the might not have heard of the terms before and explained. "Valorites and Vigilnites are people like us. We can do things normal people cannot." As a demonstration, she lifted her glowing hand and rocks shot out of the ground in front of her feet. "See? I can sense that you have powers too."_

_ Arata and Reika eyed her in surprise and extended their hand. A small flicker of flames appeared on Arata's hand while a small water ball appeared on Reika's. The girl smiled with a nod. "The both of you are Valorites. Come with me. I can teach you how to use your powers and protect yourselves."_

_ "Really?" Reika asked with her eyes shining hopefully._

_ "Yes." The girl nodded again. "I haven't introduced myself, haven't I? I am Kuriko Yuko. And you are?"_

_ "Sena Arata." Arata said quietly. "And this is my sister, Reika."_

* * *

Arata slowly opened his eyes and glanced at his watch. '3:30 only. I don't think I can sleep again. Not after that dream.' He got up quietly as to not disturb Hikaru and went out to the common room. He was not too surprise to see that Reika was there too with a mug of hot chocolate in her hands.

"Arata?" She gave him a glance. "You had that dream too?"

"Yeah." Arata nodded and sat down next to her. "I think it is because I mentioned to Hikaru that I am an abandoned baby. That's why we had that dream."

"I know." Reika said and snuggled closer to him. "I know about your talk with him just now."

"Sorry." Arata said apologetically.

"Never mind." Reika shook her head. "It goes to show that we are starting to open up to them. Looking back, do you ever regret running away at that time instead of facing the insults and cruel remarks?"

"Not once." Arata shook his head. "We were too young then so those experiences taught us how to deal with our problems now that we are older. If we had stayed, we would probably had been separated and we would never would have met Yuko-nee, Atsuya, Mia, Master Kuriko or all of our other friends at Fantasy."

"Yeah." Reika said with a yawn.

"Alright sleepy head, try to get some sleep." Arata chuckled and rested her head on his shoulder. Reika did not protest and closed her eyes. Arata smiled and felt his eyes dropping so he closed them too, falling asleep around the same time as Reika.

When dawn came, Mia had to smile at the sight of both of them when she came to wake them up for their morning practise. But seeing them in their position, she didn't have the heart to wake them up.

* * *

**So yeah, Arata and Reika did not have it easy unlike what others in Jenock may think. If you noticed, I only placed Haruki and Yuno in the conversation about Arata and Reika's guardianship and not Hikaru or anyone else. This is because in this deleted scene, Hikaru already knows that Arata is an abandoned child and Haruki, Yuno and the rest of Jenock will find out about this later in a different way.**


	10. The Big Prank

**I don't own anything from Danball Senki WARs**

**Summary: It is time...for the Big Prank! Arata and the gang conduct the Interrogation of the Dishonest Boyfriend on Atsuya as a payback for hurting their mutual friend, Mia.**

* * *

**The Big Prank**

"Mask, scythe, and cloaks?"

"Check."

"Voice modulators?"

"Check."

"Flashlight and camera?"

"Check."

"Stiletto heeled boots?"

"Check." Two voices said in unison.

Arata nodded and looked around the room they were in. "Then it's time to move out." He glanced at Reika who nodded and opened a small portal to Atsuya's room and everyone went inside and found places to hide out until the said victim came in. For once, the whole group was quiet, not even Maya and Reika were bickering. When Atsuya came back, he was going to have a nasty visit from the Grim Reaper and his assistants.

* * *

"I'll see you tomorrow." Charlotte said in a smooth voice as she trailed a finger down Atsuya's cheek.

"Sure thing." Atsuya grinned and pecked her cheek. But once she had gone back down, his grin faded and he sighed. Dating Charlotte was more tiring than dating Mia. At least his former girlfriend didn't drag him from store to store all over town and made him buy expensive clothes for her.

As he stepped inside his room, he paused and instantly became alert. Something was not right in his room despite remaining just as it was when he left. He carefully stepped inside, but someone was hiding behind the door and quickly slammed it shut as he entered and locked it, making the owner of the room spin around.

"Wha..!?" Atsuya's cry was muffled as someone grabbed him from behind and slammed him on his bed while another person switched off the lights. Atsuya tried to get up and electricity cracked from his fingertips as he tried to switch on the lights but someone grabbed his wrist, pulling them behind his back, slamming pointy heels into his ribs, causing him to wince in pain. A flashlight was flicked on and shined at his face. Atsuya blinked to clear his vision and he can see now that there are six people in total with various Halloween mask and black cloaks. One of them was having a scythe which was commonly pictured as the Grim Reaper's scythe and seems to be the leader of the group.

"Atsuya, you have been very dishonest with everyone. For that, it makes you a coward. And I love scaring cowards." The leader said in a scratchy, deep voice that belongs to a man in a creepy manner.

Atusya tried to struggle, but one of them held on to his head, forcing him to look up at the leader. "Who are you and what are you doing in my room?"

"I am the Grim Reaper of Cheaters!" The leader, aka Arata, introduced himself with an eerie smile behind the mask. "We are here to punish you for your dishonesty!"

"What?!" Atsuya exclaimed in shock. "What are you talking about?"

"You know what I am talking about." Arata snapped his fingers and Reika and Maya dug their heels into Atsuya's ribs.

"OW!" He exclaimed in pain.

"We know that you have been cheating on your girlfriend on several occasions and waited until she found out to breakup." The one holding the flashlight spat out.

"I never meant to!" Atsuya yelled in protest. "It just so happened quickly that by the time I knew what I was doing, I was making out with her!"

"So you're implying that Houjou Mia was nothing to you at all to the point where when you make out with another girl, she just simply doesn't pop up in your mind?" Maya asked with folded arms, glaring at the back of his head. Her heels dug deeper by a fraction until Arata waved his scythe and she stopped reluctantly.

"I admit that I was attracted to Charlotte before I went out with her but I never wanted to hurt Mia like that!"

"So keeping her in the dark and hurting her at the last minute was the better option over telling her in the first place?" Nick asked calmly as he tightened his hold on Atsuya's head.

"No!" Atsuya shook his head. "I meant to tell her but the longer I put it off, the harder it got."

"You're not the first one with that excuse." Reika snorted. Arata and Daimen exchanged glanced and nodded. The latter lowered the flashlight and pulled out a marker pen from his pocket. Nick grinned and knocked Atsuya out with a hard blow to his back.

"Now then, who wants to take the first draw?" Daimen grinned.

* * *

When Atsuya finally came to, the first thing he realized was, his hands were tied up behind him and there was a mirror held up in front of him. Much to his horror, his face was covered in scribbles especially around his eyebrows and there was a moustache crudely drawn on his face.

"You are finally awake." Arata said gruffly.

"What did you do to me?" Atsuya squeaked.

"We decided to torture your image." Daimen said with a low laugh. "Would you like more?"

Atsuya shook his head quickly with a horrified look. Arata smirked at that. Not many people knew that Atsuya was actually very vain in front of a mirror so they had taken advantage of that for this phase of the prank.

"Now, we would like to ask you a few…questions. If you refuse, you do know the consequences to your face, do you?" He asked, trying his best not to laugh as Atsuya's face becoming very panicky and shook his head.

"First, how long have you been dating Charlotte behind Houjou Mia's back?" Reika asked casually from her perch behind him and rested one of her heels on his back.

"S-six months." Atsuya trembled.

"Six months…" Arata trailed off and spun his scythe around and walked around to his side. He raised the stick end of the scythe and brought it down on Atsuya's butt hard.

"Ow! What was that for…ow!" He cried out again when Arata brought it down again.

"Isn't it obvious?" Arata asked innocently as he slammed it down again. "This is for the number of months you did not tell Houjou Mia about your affair." With that he smacked Atsuya's butt three more times and went back to his original position, swinging the scythe around again.

"Can I go next?" Daimen asked.

When Arata nodded and gestured him in front of their victim with his scythe, Daimen grinned and got in position. "Why did you fall in love with Charlotte Rein?"

Atsuya grew visibly nervous at this and inched away from him but Nick's hand behind his head made it impossible. "I-I don't know what you are talking about."

"Oh don't play dumb." Maya said scornfully. "I know exactly why you were attracted to her. Houjou Mia would not allow you to go beyond kissing and hand holding when you wanted more but she kept on pushing away your advances. But Charlotte Rein, she is the type of girl who would throw all sense of integrity out of the window like it never existed and will only be too willing to please your advances."

"Is that true?" Arata asked in a low voice as the rest anticipated his answer with baited breaths.

"…Yes, it's true." Atsuya said heavily. "But that does not mean that I don't love Mia anymore. I still do."

"Liar!" Daimen roared and grabbed him by the collar.

"Stop it." Arata said in a warning tone, pulling him away by the shoulder. When Daimen gave him an irritated frown, he whispered, "We cannot give any indications of who we are or he'll figure out. We'll leave the bashing to Maya later."

Daimen growled but relented. Arata turned back to Atsuya who was looking at them suspiciously.

'Oh dear. Daimen's outburst is making him suspicious. We have to distract him and carry out the interrogation before he figures out.' He thought and cleared his throat, nodded at Reika. She nodded back with a smirk behind her mask and leaned forward.

"My turn." She nearly giggled at how Atsuya was covering below her and pressed her heel on his back. "Here is a simple question. Why did you choose to hide all of this from Houjou Mia instead of telling her the truth in the beginning?"

"I…I didn't want to lose her."

"Didn't want to lose her…" Reika trailed off thoughtfully and turned to Arata with an awkward look in her eyes. Arata immediately understood what she was trying to say. When they planned this out, the last two answers were not what they expected and now it was not funny. Arata pursed his lips and was about to open his mouth when a sharp rap on the door stopped him and everyone froze.

"Atsuya, are you in there?" Yuko's voice rang out.

"Oh no." Arata hissed and everyone scrambled for the bathroom. Along the way, Nick knocked Atsuya out and cut the ropes. Arata burned them while Reika splashed water on his face, washing away all the drawings.

"A waste of good art." Daimen muttered under his breath but did not say more as he and Reika teleported everyone out just as the door opened.

"Atsuya!" Yuko shook her head in exasperation and shook his shoulder. "What are you doing? Napping in the middle of the day? You are supposed to help me out with the preparations of the Halloween party!"

Atsuya groaned and pushed himself up groggily. He gasped when the memories of what happened earlier flooded back into him. "Nee-san, is there anyone else here?!"

Yuko gave him a weird look. "There's no one here. What happened?"

"There were six people…in Halloween mask!" He spluttered out. "The leader had a scythe and he called himself the Grim Reaper of Cheaters! They asked me questions…about me and Mia!"

Yuko sighed as she observed him carefully and went to check the bathroom. Satisfied that no one was inside, she went back out and shook her head at him. "Really, if you would just put in more effort in helping me as much as you dream, then my life would be a lot easier."

"But nee-san, it's not a dream!" Atsuya protested.

"Atsuya, I don't have time to argue." Yuko pinched the bridge of her nose tiredly. "By the way, I'm going to give you this final warning. The third floor is off limits to outsiders. The only people who can come up are you and I, Arata and the rest of the students from Fantasy, and Reina if I let her. I know that you brought Charlotte up here several times and I'm putting my foot down now. From now on, you are not allowed to bring her up here. You can bring her anywhere else but not on this floor. Is that clear?"

"Yes, nee-san." Atsuya said meekly, but inwardly, he was seething at the order. He rubbed his head and found the bump that Nick gave.

"It wasn't a dream." He muttered to himself. "Just who were they."

* * *

Mia raised an eyebrow that evening when Wataru gave her the tape of their 'interrogation' after editing out the last two questions as they did not want to let her see it yet. "Do I want to know what did you guys exactly do this afternoon?"

"Probably not." Wataru shrugged with a small grin. Beside Mia, Muraku frowned as he replayed the video.

"Why do I have a feeling that it had ended abruptly?"

"Kuriko-sensei came by so we had to escape so we didn't finish it in time." Wataru lied. Mia did not seemed to notice this as she fixed her eyes on Wataru's camera screen again but Muraku did not miss this. While Mia was occupied, he pulled him aside.

"So why did you lie to Mia?" He asked in a low voice.

"You got me." Wataru rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "We actually had asked more. But the answers were not…what Mia would like to hear right now. We might let her see the rest of it later, but Arata decided that now is not the time."

Muraku nodded in understanding and glanced back at his sister. He smiled lightly as he watched her smirk at Atsuya's demise. For now, she was fine and that's all that matters. If she really could not handle the rest of the recording if Arata ever decides to let her see it, he will be by her side to get through it.

* * *

**Sorry it took me so long to write this. I've been busy with various assignments and did not have the motivation to write this as such. And this may be the last update in a while, probably up to December because my semester finals are approaching.**


	11. Meeting the seniors (in saving the world

**I don't own anything from Danball Senki WARs**

**Summary: Jin brings Arata and Reika to Tiny Orbit and meet their seniors who saved the world before them. There, they find out some disturbing news regarding a certain missing politician.**

**Author's note: I know I said that I was going to post Hunt for the Element Stones next but I got inspired and decided to do this first before moving on to it. **

**To the guest reviewers who are requesting for stories in other fics, I am not taking any request at all as I would rather write my own stories and not other people's. Sorry.**

* * *

**_Meeting the seniors (in saving the world)_**

It has only been a day since the World Sabers' fall after their failed attempt to take over Kamui Island and Arata and Reika left the island for their personal reasons. However, Jin had offered to introduce them to his friends. So before heading back to Fantasy, they had dropped by Tokio City to visit Tiny Orbit where Jin said his friends were.

"This place is huge." Reika remarked with wide eyes when they arrived at Tiny Orbit.

"It's one of the biggest LBX manufacturers in the world. It'll be natural that it'll be this huge." Arata remarked to her and turned to Jin. "No offence, but I fail to see how can your friends could easily meet up in here since it's a high profile building."

"None taken." Jin reassured him as he led them inside. "The CEO of Tiny Orbit is in fact the leader of Seekers, the organization that was set on stopping the Innovators. They also provided very helpful assistance when dealing with Detector, Paradise and Mizel. Since we were part of Seekers, we are allowed to use the base whenever we want."

"Oh." Reika formed her mouth in an 'o' shape in understanding. "I guess we didn't read much about that."

"That's understandable." Jin muttered under his breath, remembering that Reika once mentioned that they don't bother much with the world news unless necessary. He straightened up though when he saw an old face coming over and he smiled. "Rina-san."

"Jin-kun, it's been a long time." She said, shaking his hand and turned to Reika and Arata and smiled. "You must be Reika-chan and Arata-kun, right?"

"Yes." They nodded simultaneously.

"Glad to meet you. I'm Ishimori Rina and part of Seekers as well as an employee here." She introduced herself, shaking their hands. She then turned to Jin and smiled. "The others are waiting for you at the base."

"Alright." Jin nodded and led them to the elevator and pressed a button.

"Say, Jin. When are you going to tell your friends about your wrist?" Reika asked him innocently which made Arata roll his eyes when he recognized that tone.

"I'm going to tell them today." Jin said with a roll of his eyes, inwardly thanking Arata for warning him beforehand that Reika actually enjoys teasing people especially those close to her. "But please don't mention it to them."

"Ok." Reika said lazily. They soon came to a door which Jin tapped his CCM at the panel to open, revealing Ban, Hiro, Ran, Ami, Kazu, Asuka, Yuuya, Hana and Jessica.

"Jin, you're here." Hana greeted him first, kissing him on the cheek.

Reika's eyes were wide open at that but Jin smiled at her and hugged her back. "I didn't know that you were coming, Hana."

"And miss a chance to meet your sister?" Hana said playfully. She turned to Reika who was still gaping at them and giggled. "You two may not look alike but she's cute."

Arata snorted under his breath and muttered, "Overstatement of the century."

"Reika, Arata, this is my girlfriend, Kayagi Hana and my friends, Yamano Ban, Oozora Hiro, Hanasaki Ran, Kawamura Ami, Aoshima Kazuya or Kazu for short, Kojou Asuka, but you know her as Takeru's sister, Haibara Yuuya and Jessica Kaios." Jin introduced his friends to them.

"Um, hi?" Reika said shyly.

"So this is the girl Takeru is interested in?" Asuka smirked, making Reika look at her in bewilderment while Arata chuckled under his breath.

"You could say that." Jin shrugged.

"Not helping." Reika hissed.

"So the two of you are from Kamui Daimon?" Ban asked.

"Used to." Arata shrugged. "We officially dropped out this morning."

"Is it because of what happened on the island regarding the World Sabers?" Ami asked concernedly.

"Eh, partially." Reika said sheepishly. "What with Seredy being a sadist who tortured us mentally that gave many of us nightmares to last until we turn twenty."

"That bad?" Kazu gave them a sympathetic smile. "We didn't have to deal with all that during our time."

"Yeah. It must have been bad enough for Japan to ask for help from A-Nation's Fire Sweets." Jessica shook her head. "We were about to carry out an operation to stop the World Sabers on Kamui Island just one hour after it collapsed. But since our help wasn't necessarily needed at the end, I got a short break just to see you guys again."

"Reika is mostly exaggerating." Arata rolled his eyes. "But I have to agree with the mental torture though. Sleeping gas disguised as poisonous gas and then turn the victims to slave players…" He shook his head, remembering how scared and panicked everyone became because of that.

"But what matters is that it's over. Seredy is behind bars and the World Sabers has collapsed with the fall of their leader. It will not be long before everyone forgets about it and leave Kamui Island alone." Jin told him.

"That reminds me, Takuya gave me some interesting news earlier." Ban spoke up. "Zaizen Sousuke has been re-elected as prime minister of Japan just this morning. It will be officialised tonight."

"But I thought Rikuya's father was only missing?" Arata said in surprise.

"Apparently, just yesterday, a letter was sent to him containing his father's letter of resignation. The authorities are still on search for him but mainly because he has to go to court." Ban explained grimly.

"Go to court?" Arata said in alarm.

"It turns out, Tougou Giichi was involved in multiple cases of money laundering, blackmail and extortion in the process of making the ERP." Jessica took over in explaining. "Just two days ago, someone gave papa a folder containing all the evidence needed to prosecute him. Somehow, Tougou Giichi must have found out about it and fled before it reached Japan."

Arata's face fell at that. It must be hard for Rikuya now, given that his father is now a fugitive and he has to deal with the backlash of everything his father did by himself.

"By the way, Takuya also mentioned the future plans Zaizen-san has regarding Kamui Island." Ban quickly changed the topic. "He said that he is commissioning all the LBX manufacturers in Japan to support the school and renovate the Second World. He said that instead of War Time, he's thinking of creating LBX competitions with each class being one team competing with other classes in the competitions in the diorama instead once it's rebuilt. It'll just be friendly competitions with each other. No more virtual country segregation. I don't know much about any other future plans for it but I heard that Zaizen-san was touched by how much effort the students put in to try to convince him to cut the school from the ERP which he gladly did."

"That's great." Hana smiled as she latched onto Jin's arm. "I wonder what sort of competitions are though."

"Probably something fun which we'll enjoy too." Hiro grinned.

"By the way…" Reika coughed and gave Jin a knowing look, flicking her eyes at his wrist. He glared at her and slowly detached his arm from Hana. Ban saw this and frowned, knowing what's to come.

"Everyone, I own you guys an explanation." Jin spoke up, catching everyone's attention. "The truth is…"

Needless to say, when Jin was done telling his friends about his wrist, they were understandably upset and hurt that Jin didn't tell them after all this time.

"Why didn't you tell us!?" Hana all but yelled at him, causing some of them to flinch.

"I'm sorry, but I didn't want to worry you guys." Jin lowered his head. "I'm going for therapy tomorrow so it'll heal."

"But why did sacrifice your wrist just to fight the Detector?" Yuuya said upsetly.

"Because I knew that we needed all the help we could get and there was no way we could to that if I pulled out." Jin sighed.

"But even so, you should have told us. We wouldn't think of you any different." Ban said with a hint of disappointment in his voice.

"I know that." Jin said tiredly. He was tired of trying to deal with their questions and he wished that they would leave it alone since he already told them and he accepted their anger for hiding it. So right now, he wished that they would just drop the whole subject. In fact, he's regretting letting Reika persuade him to tell them about it.

"Hey, I know that it's not my place to say this, but can you please do this another time?" Reika suddenly spoke up. "Jin-san is tired from the past few days and the boat ride back here. So, can you at the very least postpone the scolding?"

Then again, she was the one who got him out of dealing with his friends, he mused and sighed in relief.

* * *

Arata and Reika stayed at Tiny Orbit for a while longer before they realized that they had to catch the next train to Mount Heiwa in time for their briefing. So Jin and Hana decided to bring them down to the station in the building while the other's hung out in the base.

"So Hana-san, how long have you known Jin-san?" Reika asked her curiously.

"Ever since we were kids. In fact, my parents also died in the Tokio Bridge incident and I too was taken in by Kaidou Yoshimitsu but to be a companion for Jin." Hana reminisced. "I can't say that life was too bad but ever since we met Ban and all the others, our horizons had widened."

"Then how long have you been dating?" Reika asked innocently.

"Oh, about three years." Hana shrugged while Arata raised an eyebrow warily. Whenever Reika acted innocent, she was bound to be up to something mischievous. Apparently, Jin had already caught on with her innocent act.

"Reika, call me when you get back to your school." Jin cut in to change the subject.

"I know, I know." Reika grinned and immediately hopped into the train, dragging Arata as she did. The doors then closed and they waved goodbye to Jin and Hana.

"Seriously, one day that innocent act is not going to work anymore." Arata shook his head once they could not see Tiny Orbit anymore.

"That's why I have to use it while it last." Reika giggled but then became somber. "How do you think Rikuya is doing?"

"I don't know." Arata shook his head. "But I hope that they find his father though. It may sound mean, but it's better for him to face justice than to run from it. Rikuya would suffer less if he did."

"I agree." Reika nodded in agreement. She sighed and smiled when she saw clusters of snow fall down through the window. "It looks like we're having an early winter this year."

Arata looked out as well and smiled sadly. "Mia would love to see it now."

Reika's smile fell and she had a sad look as well. "Yeah. But at least she's safe now."

Arata let his hand touch the surface of the window and his face became determined. "When we were talking with Ban-san and the others, it felt like we were in the mist of heroes. They risked everything in their lives just to save the world. I want to be like them too."

"Me too." Reika grinned. "Except, our deeds will not be known to the public." She said, waving her hands dramatically.

Arata chuckled and returned the gesture. "But even if the public does not know about our heroic deeds, our friends and we will know."

They shared a laugh at that, not caring if anyone was looking at them strangely since no one would figure out what they are saying.


End file.
